A Mother’s Advice

Who could love you?
She said:
You are perverse, you delight
in contradiction, raise your voice
too soon, too far
impatient, you won’t listen
to any sage advice
you want to make your own mistakes
no learning from my own.

You are hard work, she added.
I pretend it’s operetta-froth chorus,
whip my cream, point down the nozzle.
You should be grateful…
You should remember…
You must not expect…
She gave me all the ingredients
never taught me how to bake
each word sweeping away kitchen essentials
till there was nothing

mere square inch of mottled dishcloth.

—

Marina Sofia is a global nomad, reviewer and writer, who’s recently moved back to the UK after spending several years in the French Alps. She has published in online and print journals, and thinks poetry is the best procrastination when she should be working on her debut crime novel.