Young Mother

I wake to the sound of a neighbour cleaning

Too early for the noise of some mindless task

Sleep is needed to maintain sanity

Her children stampede her- overwhelmed

The strain wears her down, sleep young mother,

Forget your chores and sleep.

The pain is crushing, she hides it well.

No one knows her struggles.

I do, I see you young mother, rest your head

A slave to her children, she always dreamed it.

Abandoned, helpless and perturbed.

The soft scent of winter blows through her mind.

Sleep young mother rest thine eyes.

Soon it will be over, just ten short years.

The moments of pride and love sustain her,

fleeting they are- gone. Another day, chores again

she sees other young mothers drinking coffee.

Children away, raised by the Au pair, their slavery outsourced.

She staggers forward no energy or will.

Sleep young mother sleep.

Cries I hear from time to time, the required release.

No one helps her, least of all I.

I write my philosophy as I hear her cries.

Detached from another human in need.

Weep young mother weep.

It makes me feel nothing but my own little world

Selfish uncaring and cold

A young mother cries, I’m occupied with my writing

Sleep young mother sleep

I see it all, I understand

Her struggles I always observe

Close my curtain, she is there no more

Her problems no longer mine, guilt eats me, I crush it with ease.

Sleep young mother sleep.