Five spaces to love and hate

Posted on by Reena Saxena

Home was where they all knew my name
I was loved for what I was – nothing to do
with my past history or probable future
“She has potential”, they lovingly said
my father smiled, Mom shed a tear of joy

Competition was intense within those walls
large windows offered no view or reprieve
each grade mattered like the last breath
not knowing the bottom to which it will be
relegated – to make fresh achievements count

I celebrated the first job; idiot that I was
unseeing chains of slavery that decorated me
new bosses, new rules – each outsmarted the other
I hid my principles out of view – like shame
They did not acknowledge where I came from

I am a boss; yet not so – dangling by a thread
safeguarding my spot from malice and power
The deepest learnings come from the tears I shed
in the washroom or bedroom – alone, unprotected
I know this is not home, yet I have no place to go

The strand of grey falling on my face whispers
This is me – not what I was, but what I was
always meant to be. This is not home, and I have
Nowhere to go; yet I belong, I nourish roots
to spread far and wide – they acknowledge that Me.

MTB: Five Leavings from Home

17 thoughts on “Five spaces to love and hate”

  7. Reena, I lament the fact you had such a competive filled childhood and getting jobs and all that. I hear ya on of that, often it takes going through all of that before we can just relax and be “me.” Well done and wonderfully conveyed. Much love ❤️

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