Parum Nex

I walk through fire
never burning or feeling heat
I carry the weight of
my world
and do not stumble
I am the paragon of
strength and courage
navigating more than any
one
woman
should endure.

But, each day another
chip breaks away and
small drops of
pain
slip down my face
each one a monument
to
the small losses
that have passed
with no stone
or cross
or grave
to mark their exit

Rights

Once you have a child
you give up
certain rights. . .
some are obvious
like
the right to just take off
and go to the movies
without planning or thinking about it
or
the right to go to the bathroom
without a knock on the door
or
the right to buy only the toys
you want for yourself
or
the right to sleep through the night
when there are monsters under the bed.

But the biggest right you willingly hand over
is the right
to self-destruct
because someone
counts on you and
only you

So you pick yourself up
and dust off and
move forward and realize
that the privilege of being the
Mother
is worth it all.