My Parent

MY PARENT My mother, a good woman, hard worker, She-bear in defence of her child - Once went to school to confront teacher Who’d left marks on my neck from a beating, Promised him next time she would leave marks on HIS neck: He never touched me again. A competent self-taught wordsmith - Crosswords and puzzles in general - Avid reader, taught me to read when only three - Good speller, nice handwriting. Guess it rubbed off. She, like all mothers, would often offer The bus-crash-underwear advice too. But I said to her - what hospital would bother checking? Imagine you’re in the emergency room with broken legs And cracked skull, on a drip of plasma: The doctor rushes in and whips off your pants And checks your underwear first. I said - nonsense. She would laugh. One of her favourite sayings that stuck in my head was “I cried when I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet.” She wanted to teach me what was important in the world. Guess it rubbed off Worked all her life for others and died in poverty. If she isn’t in heaven, then there is no justice And I want no part of this heaven. They can all go to hell.