(or “What I Was”)

 

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∴

i was once so very much
and glad to be.

i was.

i was.

i was

the teacher
the cleaner
the bill payer
the party planner
the medicine feeder

the cook
the baker
the candlestick maker
the tailor
the story time teller

the hair cutter
the laundry folder
the bath giver
the breast feeder
the soil weeder

the garden planter
the fire-starter
the midnight rocker
the morning walker
the curriculum creator

the disciplinarian
the librarian
the tree ornamenter
the apple gatherer
the button counter

the dawn waker
the snow-globe shaker
the spirit guider
the mind widener
the movie goer

the music player
the card writer
the present wrapper
the wound dresser
the stuff binder
the missing toy finder

 

but i was alone in all these things i was

and the heart that gave so much
so long

gave way
and
has gone

 

in wilted submission
to a culture
stronger than i have strength to be.

 

i bow like the overgrown head of a sunflower,
weighted by the seeds it carried,

dropping

dropping

what is left.

 

petals pointing to the earth,
like floppy ears,
listless and left,
and trying to collect
the memory of warmth
from happy suns at midday.

∴

 

 

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