I Lashes

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity. - Thoreau

mother would chase us 'round the house with an old leather belt

whipping her demons that our innocent, young flesh felt

her mother died when she was but nine years old

leaving her motherless, or so i'm told

now she's almost ninety years old

controlled

barely able to clutch and hold

i visit and hold her now wrinkled hand

with my tarnished wedding band

trying to understand

i've now reluctantly

with deep scars not so bold

a heart ice cold

searching for lost, buried gold

my soul flogged and sold

the dark story finally

told

Author's Note

"If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. But do not care to convince him. Men will believe what they see. Let them see." - Thoreau

Reviews

[barleygirl]

Your long message in verse with nicely rhyming riffs speaks to the old adage: "those who were abused, abuse." Your poem makes it clear how muddy the waters can be, when a history of abuse/loss colors someone's sensibilities . . . & also for how long these wounds continue to distort a person's realities. Love your title cleverness! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Pete]

after she lost her mother, she was bounced around and not treated with love like a real mother would do. her father eventually put her & her siblings in a boarding school run by strict nuns who would hit them if they misbehaved. i think you mention a key point in finding forgiveness - she wasn't shown the example of a real mother - she was treated abusively and copied the only example she knew - it was her sad, unfortunate reality. life can be cruel, it wasn't her fault but she suffered as a result of it as did my father, brother and me living with her. yes, they do say that such things repeat. thank you for sharing margie ... :)