Down the List

How far down the list

Have you seen the words?

Desperate for clicks,

Stir what matters into a blur,

For me, the greatest wish,

For others, a life absurd:

-

Poet, author, writer,

Lover, hater, fighter,

Influencer, traveler, love to explore,

Single, taken, complete whore,

Friend, sister, worker,

Professional duty shirker,

Coffee addict, crystal junkie,

Astrology is kind of funky,

Pet parent, fairy seeker,

(Can life get any bleaker?)

Dreamer, dancer, reality’s refugee,

Longing to be totally free,

Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, Zelle,

Take a trip and back to Hell,

Touts that she’s a capricorn,

Proud of the fact she acts in porn,

Pageant slave, beauty queen,

Lives to watch reality TV,

Struggles with mental illness,

Stubborn, or full of willfulness?

Teacher of the littles,

Dabbling in scribbles,

Advocate, partner, activist,

Patriarchy-smashing feminist,

-

But of these titles, there is another:

The last on the list, wife and mother.

-

I shudder to wonder

What tore hearts asunder

From the idea that domesticity is joy

Trade in the ring for a toy

A paycheck, a title, a career

What these women really fear

Is being forgotten, unappreciated

Not leaving a mark is to leave Earth devastated

-

Let them wallow in their strife

Ignite their wounds afresh

I want to be a wife

I know that true happiness

Will come when I beget life

And become a mother, blessed.