MOTHER.

She was the reason

That I strove to start

With life as a blank canvas

She was the storm

That whistled through my heart

And shattered it.

She was the longing for

Life made easy

A brighter, better world.

She was the night

When I was lost

In a bad dream

Where I was

Naked and scared.

She was the aloofness

That left me

On a trembling piece of ice

On a river heading for the sea.

She was the laughter

So brittle so fake

That I had to learn

To be genuine

She was the shout

That strained and grieved

And cut bitterly

Through my life

She was the music

That jarred and clanged and hissed

The only music

That I could not dance to.

She was the desire to be

A cultured woman

Who strove to toss

The shackles of her past away.