04-26-2017, 01:37 AM
Mommies and Daddies
Bette and Joan hated each other,
but not as much as their daughters
hated them.
I suppose all children hate their parents;
it’s what makes loving them possible.
When I first held my son, it felt
like I bought a lottery ticket. I imagined
his path was stretching—
an escalator to the sky
over my potholed roads,
but no ticket ever wins.
Being a parent is like heroin
in a dirty needle. As a child,
you only get the needle.
Bette and Joan hated each other,
but not as much as their daughters
hated them.
I suppose all children hate their parents;
it’s what makes loving them possible.
When I first held my son, it felt
like I bought a lottery ticket. I imagined
his path was stretching—
an escalator to the sky
over my potholed roads,
but no ticket ever wins.
Being a parent is like heroin
in a dirty needle. As a child,
you only get the needle.
The secret of poetry is cruelty.--Jon Anderson