I'm Not the Woman I Thought I Was - A Mother's Day Poem

When I was in my twenties, I was a woman
With a flat stomach and ten polished fingernails,
A woman with a handsome boyfriend.

When I was in my thirties, I was a woman
Who was smart and professional, who wore a fur coat and high heels
And had an apartment with a view.

When I was in my forties, I was a woman with two babies
Who lived in a condo with no view,
Who wondered what she gotten herself into.

When I was in my fifties, I was a woman who mothered a mother,
Who chafed and struggled, who admired what I had borne,
And who wondered who I was.

And now I know I am a woman who had a flat stomach and
Ten polished fingernails, a handsome boyfriend;
A smart, professional woman who wore heels and a fur coat
And had an apartment with a view. My dry husk, attached to a twig.

Now I know I am a woman who, with a mate of such good fortune,
Had two babies who grew honorable and compassionate,
Even though she lived in a condo without a view
And wondered what she had gotten herself into. My struggling self, trying to push free.

And now I know I am a mother who mothered a mother, often badly,
But tried, and found the view in her own backyard,
And understood what she had gotten herself into,
And untied her heart so that it could , at last, lift with gratitude.
My wings, drying in the sun, unfolding to my own amazement.

By WOOFer, Joann Dunn

Joann Dunn is also an author. Find out about her Curtis Family Chronicles on her website:

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