Tears of a Mother

I am that single mother,

deserted by her children

who have colluded with malignant

stepchildren to murder me,

I am that mother wriggling

in disaster, whose arms

have been cut off, legs amputated

by those who I call my own,

I am that pitiful mother

who never relished the bliss

of motherhood—I drink from

an ocean of lamentations,

I am a being of groans and gutters,

injuries and scars adorn my body.

I have given you my soil and its bounty,

I have given you my soul and its blessings,

I neither ask for gold nor garbs,

how ungrateful can one’s children be?

But my grandchildren seem

like stars who have found a home,

or maybe I am dreaming—hope is

the pillar on which all ages stand,

I am pregnant again

with the glory of years to come,

a new dream, a new history—this is

the hope on which I stand.