Motherhood

Posted on by Reena Saxena

my mother failed to see some lines
when she held my pudgy palm;
she kissed a smooth, unblemished cheek
not knowing what would grow on it
-lines of experience
where she would have no part
she held me up in the air
I was her work of art

her innocence failed to perceive
a blank canvas
on which life would paint stories
etch lines not erased by her kiss
I’m not sure if she watches me
or is content playing her part
-instruments give a shape
for now, in near
not for a future afar

my mother wants to unmask me
but keeps peeling layers
unknown, unfamiliar
mothers are makers
of a shell, not a life
not the soul
they are caretakers
for a part of life
not the whole

sep-a-rate I dVerse

24 thoughts on “Motherhood”

  1. I read this three times and experienced it in various ways. It’s a good poem that makes you want to read it over and over to find new meaning. Being a mom of a now-grown son is the best job I’ve ever had; he is my “work of art”, as you said (but there were many others helping with the painting in the village that raised him). I felt a wrenching sadness with the last paragraph, because there is so much truth in it. We are still very, very close, but he is finding his own path, which is as it should be. After reading the comments, I re-read the poem twice and could see the horror of having your child turn out to be someone evil, or even just someone whose character you couldn’t recognize as related to your own.

    I really appreciate how much your poem made me think.

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  4. That is so true and deep, Reena. You never know what environment, situations, and challenges will shape your children. One can’t be sure how much they will learn from your examples.

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  6. Oh wow Reena. This is very deep and well written. It speaks volumes to the flaws we all carry with us as we carry on in life! Parents often want to live vicariously through their children, but that rarely has success! I love what you did with this prompt. We are shaped by our past, but our future is determined by our own personal choices.

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