Mothers Must Leave From Time to Time, Though Not For Long

I'd like to pass a law against the snarkiness,

the snotty shrug of shoulders showing apathy,
the attitude that says "I know much better"
even when you both know it's not true.

I'd like to pass a law against the lack of love,
the selfishness, demand to be the center
of existence as we know it, without thought
to others, what is best for someone else
or how your actions make them feel.

It isn't up to me, of course, and so I leave
this planet on occasion, travel to a distant
universe, so parallel in many ways, but
where there's peace and quiet if only because
everyone's been threatened not to call.

They start to ask me days before: "When
are you leaving?," calculating
how much longer they must trouble with
the person who intrudes into their lives,
making sure that teeth are brushed and
chores are done, and graphic language is
turned off the xBox, talking back is not allowed.

Mothers, and in our case, Nanas too, should
fly the coop from time to time, not so they
are more grateful (that's unlikely to occur)
but so that we are grateful for the sense of
peace and calm and lack of drama that
the little time away inspires.


(c) Ellen Gillette, 2013