You tried
To destroy my soul
I tried
To uplift you
While healing myself
From the trauma
And destruction
You inflicted on me
You complained
All the while
Adding fury
To your violent rage
And attempt to obliterate
Everything

©2017 by Loolwa Khazzoom. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be copied without author’s permission.

You handed me down
An impossible list of
Tasks and responsibilities
And I ticked them off
one by one
like a dutiful daughter
Accomplishing most of them completely
And some of them partially
Despite their impossibility
And irrationality
But now I’m all
Tied in a knot
And unsure
Where to put my focus time effort
Feeling like a failure
Despite having achieved
More than you did
Or even deemed possible

©2017 by Loolwa Khazzoom. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be copied without author’s permission.

Constant crisis aversion
Monitoring and managing others
Incompetent unwilling unable
I can wait I can wait I can wait

Daughter Friend Neighbor
It doesn’t matter
Always the mother
She can wait she can wait she can wait

If I am not for myself
Who is for me
But if I am not for you
You will die
So I wait I wait I wait

©2017 by Loolwa Khazzoom. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be copied without author’s permission.