Thursday, October 3, 2024

LET'S PRETEND

When you were young, 
did you ever 
make-believe 

you were a loving mother? 
Was a wonderful 
mother ever 

not the perfect cover
for the God 
whom you adored 

but whose name 
must not be mentioned?
Back then, 

did you wonder 
how a few scraps 
of bread 

and a muttered amen 
could stand in 
for your redemption? 

What about now? 
Is a tender parent still 
a punitive savior?

How does one thing 
come to mean
another?