Poem #30 of poem a day for National Poetry Month April 2009

At a distance



Mom I love you so very much but we do better at a distance
I never have had the heart to say this straight to your face
But when I reached the age I said so much more with my body
Things a mind of your time just couldn't let in for the disgrace

I never have had the heart to say this straight to your face
Long ago because a good daughter would never think to do so
Things a mind of your time just couldn't let in for the disgrace
And later after I became a mom because then I too began to know

Long ago, because a good daughter would never think to do so
I never said what my heart really felt - I acted it out instead
Later, after I became a mom because then I too began to know
That no matter how hard you try your child inherits part of your bad head

I never said what my heart really felt - I acted it out instead
Never at home but out in bars, in stranger's beds - wild in the streets
That no matter how hard you try, your child inherits part of your bad head
So instead I tried to model the kind of parent I wanted my child to someday be

Never at home, but out in the bars, in strangers beds, and wild in the streets
At home I became a rebel against your iron rule with my ever growing resistance
So instead I tried to model the kind of parent I wanted my child to someday be
I went across the country to fight along side people who struggled against injustice

At home I became a rebel against your iron rule with my ever growing resistance
I knew you loved me, but you didn't like me being so much my father's reflection
I went across the country to fight along side people who struggled against injustice
Mom I love you very much, but you and I, we do so much better at a distance


© Odilia Galván Rodríguez, 2009