She Was Certain
by Elaine ReardonShe was doing the right thing.
Her mother-in-law gave the kids
processed foods, M&Ms,
and sugared peanut butter, for chrissakes.
She wanted to put them into frilly dresses,
didn't like them messy,
the way toddlers naturally were.
To say nothing of the way she
ignored the 'no sugar' mandate.
So it seemed right, if she
couldn't be trusted beyond
the length of a peanut butter jar
that she not be allowed alone with them.
It was obvious she couldn't be trusted. How
had she brought up her own kids?
She was certain of it. She would
do it better, would remake all that
was wrong with her own childhood.
Her kids would eat healthy, have
a mom who was always there, a dad
who lifted them with hugs, who stayed.
So now why were her kids with her
mother-in-law, when she lay alone
on the couch, recovering after
the hospital stay, one whole week
of confusion and pain. It left her so
weak she couldn't lift the baby.
Her husband worked long hours
to pay the bills, to get them ahead.
The new social worker said
she couldn't care for her own babies.
She couldn't put breakfast on the table,
heave them out of bed for school.
How had things changed so completely?
Now she couldn't see her kids
except for visits twice a week.
Her husband came home and gave
her supper, then went to his mother’s
to read a story and put the kids to bed.
How had her life become the couch,
the kitchen, and endless cups of cold coffee?
* * * * *
Elaine Reardon is a writer, herbalist, and artist and educator. Her first chapbook, The Heart is a Nursery For Hope, won first honors from Flutter Press in 2016, and her second chapbook, Look Behind You, was also published in late 2019 by Flutter Press. Most recently Elaine's work was published in The Common, Galway Review, Pensive Journal, and similar journals. A new chapbook, Stories Told in a Lost Tongue was published by Finishing Line Press in September 2024. www.elainereardon.wordpress.com.
Oh my. How heartbreaking. Endless cups of cold coffee.
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