Aren’t you a mother?
Expectations pile
Only mothers know this
We get big
We get hormonal
We get ripped apart by melon heads
We get overwhelmed with love
Huh, overwhelmed
Funny word
Actually, ironic. Not funny
Actually, genuine. Not ironic
Actually, painful. More than genuine
I am expected
You don’t have to say it
It’s in my blood
My DNA
My genes
My XX chromosomes
My stretch marks left over
And the weight left over, too
What else is left over?
Left behind?
Actually, left in front
This dump truck
Guilt
“That’s what you get.”
For what?
I taste that daily
Heartbeats that race
Pound out like a million bass drums
They muffle everything around
I want silence
I want peace
I want a moment that’s mine
“For being a mother.”
Stress?
You know her?
I definitely do
She chases me day in
And day out
With relaxation she sighs
“Motherhood.”
I can’t escape her
And in a moment of weakness
I give in and decide nothing is worth this
This pain
This anxiety
This anger
This depression
But I shouldn’t feel any of this
“Aren’t you a mother?”
About this poem
As I get older, I am coming to understand my mental health and what coping skills work for me. And being a mother means there is no time to break down. There is a stigma that sits around moms and treats us like being a mother should not only be our coping mechanism but also our punishment. This poem came from those emotions that overwhelm you during a moment of breaking down.
Written on June 22, 2022
Submitted by morganoe1516 on July 18, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 2 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XAXXXX XXBXC DXDXXXEF EXXXXXXBXXXXXXE XEFXXXXE XAXBEC AE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,049 |
Words | 203 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 5, 8, 15, 8, 6, 2 |
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"Aren’t you a mother?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/133170/aren’t-you-a-mother?>.
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