Oil and water

Oil and water

oil and water

I’m not my mother’s daughter

women don’t need an education

they’re just going to get married and have kids

that’s what my father said

but that’s not what I did

my mother had six children

a life of work in the house and out

with a man she didn’t love

and a heart full of doubt

they divorced when she was worn down

she got cancer when she was free

she wondered why she was being punished

why her life wasn’t what she thought it’d be

So I never married a man I didn’t love

I didn’t wear the burden of expectation

and I didn’t have kids to surrender to

Instead I got an education

(C) Feb 2020  by Catherine Elder