My Mother

My mother
was beautiful
could have been a model
an admirer in the car park
at her second small wedding

My mother
had ambitions
quashed by her father
beaten by his hands
she never forgave him

My mother loved her husband
their marriage broke down
through their own dysfunctions
plus lack of money
and a lack of maturity

My mother met my father
he saved her from herself
she still has the nightmares
of being abandoned
too traumatic to imagine

Our mother finds it hard
to hug and to hold
to have time on the phone
to understand her children
she says she's no good..

Yet I forgive our mother
she taught us to be true
to hate and to love
she never let up
she had to stand out

My mother still exalts me
to be who I am
to question and to wonder..
she knows where it's at
and sees that I can