Impact Scarred

A poem I wrote after my mother was in a violent car crash in 2002. She raised my sister and I alone, and she was always a pillar of strength. The accident left her disabled and vulnerable. You can see the obvious metaphor here.

 

There you were broken severely,

Limbs cracked and bent unnaturally

Like a tree unprotected and set

Against spring gales or winter ice.

I tried to take inspiration from oak,

My wounds were well masked inside,

Not life threatening like yours.

The oak to must bend at times.

Your thirst too much for me to bear

And my heart bled sorrowfully for you.

You lay in shattered shards

Braced to prevent additional damage,

Awaiting much needed repair,

Minutes like sap flowing slowly

Through fissures of bark in autumn.

You were my protection so strong,

A break against the savage storms.

Broken as bumpers collided head on,

Like a dull axe against fragile limbs

And we wept fearful tears in private.

Your strength all that carried us through.