Mother
You step in here
under the guise of kindness
but what I'm craving
is the familiar murder underneath.
You present a routine test
as if expecting me
to suddenly be your rosebud child-
and so I kill your dreams
again and again.
(Boundaries are for adults
who don't still play desperate pretend
with their childhood dolls.)
You persist
as if there was any logic in my suffering
with your 'why's.
...
Love me from a distance.
For your own sake
it's the only way you should.
@determinedSea4370 This poem has such a raw, intense vibe to it. The way you express the struggle with expectations, boundaries, and the pain of not being understood is really powerful. It feels like a moment of self-protection in a world that doesn’t always get it. Very thought-provoking.
@azurePond Thank you
@determinedSea4370
I agree very much with what @Azurepond said in their analysis. I also sense a thread of near masochistic self denial/blame which draws on the sympathy we instinctively feel when seeing someone or something in pain. I really loved the stanza about Boundaries for adults, and thought it created very clever imagery as well as being a thought provoking statement on adulthood and adult interactions.