Good-Bye Mommy

-enjoy-

 

You dropped me off at school

And picked me up.

You made me lunch

And got me ready.

You did it all.

 

You knew all my secrets.

I whispered in one ear

And held the other

So they wouldn’t leak out.

You knew my friends.

You knew me.

 

 But then you and daddy had a fight.

You came into my room crying

And hugged me.

You said it was like when my brother and I fought.

But it wasn’t;

It was nothing like that.

 

You still did it all.

You still made dinner.

You still let me have two cookies.

You still vacuumed and backed every week.

But you weren’t my mother.

You were someone else.

 

Then one dinner you didn’t eat;

Just sat and stared.

You said you and daddy had something to tell us.

We didn’t know what was happening.

Daddy was leaving.

We didn’t know why.

 

I didn’t cry like you did.

I didn’t run after him like my brother did.

I sat and stared at my green beans.

Mommy and daddy should have just said sorry.

That always made it all right.

 

But daddy still left.

But he came home and kissed me good night.

I thought he was back.

He stayed home for days.

You did say sorry.

 

Then he had to leave again.

But only for a few days, he said.

Another business trip.

He promised to bring me something good this time.

Not clothes again.

 

I thought he would miss my ballet recital.

But he was there.

He was supposed to be on his trip.

Maybe he got back just in time.

But he didn’t come home afterwards.

He got me Legos, though.

I didn’t want them anymore.

 

You weren’t mommy anymore.

You didn’t bake anymore.

You didn’t wait outside for me to get off the bus.

You cried.

And left notes to yourself all over the house.

 

It’s been ten years since you stopped being mommy.

Now you’re mother.

And you work all the time.

You don’t know my friends or my secrets.

You don’t do it all.

You don’t know me.

 

I miss my mommy.

Reviews

[Siren]

This poem is heart-breaking. I love the innocence that you have in this poem. It touches the deep subjects of family life while keeping a child-like view.