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Ally Jodway Poem
Dear Mother,
I didn’t understand before,
As much as I understand now.
No matter how cruel a mother you may be,
You are still my mother.
You wore me down to my brittle bones,
And continued to gnaw at the little marrow that was left.
Go on, finish me off, and eat the rest.
Birth me again, and maybe this time it will be different.
Remember when I was a little girl, and I would catch
You critiquing your reflection in the mirror?
You told me you hated how you looked. Did you know
That people tell me I look so much like you?
You didn’t know, it wasn’t your fault.
It wasn’t your fault you were born screaming,
In perfect unison with your mother,
And that you never learned to stop,
Not until I was born, screaming just the same. I forget
You were a girl once, too. Also
Making lemonade for quarters,
Splitting clementines with your friends,
And begging for your mother’s attention.
We were so angry
At each other. I was afraid
Of becoming you, and you were
Afraid of me becoming better.
I didn’t understand before,
As much as I understand now
That I want so desperately
To crawl into your lap and never leave again.
I’ll rot there and be silent,
If it means that you will smile down at me,
The same way you did the day I was born. With
Your eyes wild and full of compassion, unknown of who
I’d become, if not a mirror of yourself,
Holding the same knife of rage you held at me.
Rock me, Mama,
I promise I understand now.
Copyright © Ally Jodway | Year Posted 2025
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Ally Jodway Poem
A pale blue dot that floats in an infinite expanse of space,
It earnestly holds everything ever known within itself;
Nothing matters in this place.
Ginger and peach tea, a mother’s warm embrace,
The meaningful intimacy of sharing a clementine, but we are just
A pale blue dot that floats in an infinite expanse of space.
Overthinking a conversation, being called a disgrace,
Why care so much?
Nothing matters in this place.
A husband hand-picking wildflowers to put in a vase;
A gift for his wife displaying his all-consuming love, but insignificant within
A pale blue dot that floats in an infinite expanse of space.
Not standing to look each other in the face,
Time is running out, get over it,
Nothing matters in this place.
The nihilism that accompanies residing on a floating rock,
It’s a grief-filled comfort, Earth’s greatest oxymoron.
A pale blue dot that floats in an infinite expanse of space,
Nothing matters in this place.
Copyright © Ally Jodway | Year Posted 2025
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Ally Jodway Poem
The deep, heartfelt ache,
heaviness piled onto shoulders;
the feeling of unattainable past experiences,
the moments of mere temporary bliss,
the unavoidable changes.
No permanency tacked down,
solely feelings of mourn for the moments that no longer exist.
Nights spent lying awake,
eyes crusty and tired,
thinking of the next moment that will slip away.
Consistency lacking:
no apple is as crispy as the next,
or light lit the same way.
Clouds shifting shapes at every glance:
there’s no sense of consistency.
These words, though.
These words have persisted;
through centuries and lives.
The meaning transforms with language,
significance, thought, and interpretation.
Forever, there will be folkloric tales eternally told.
Scrawled opinions tucked in the margins,
taking note of the emotion felt in the morning light,
because it might change by the evening glow.
The printed text, however,
persists with its’ permanency.
Letters written to lovers,
etched into the front flap of a cover.
Used novels with broken spines,
gifted with notes crammed between paragraphs:
practically a physical confession of love.
A concept so difficult to grasp:
mortality bearing the gift of abbreviations,
but words made of ink and laid on pieces of parchment,
battle the non-permanency of humanity,
with its consistent sense of corporality.
Thoughts of interpretation,
bare a human’s soul.
The dedication,
of a timeless work of words,
bare a human’s soul.
Copyright © Ally Jodway | Year Posted 2025
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Ally Jodway Poem
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
I could never feel something as little as nothing,
because my heart is too busy being full of you.
What I feel for you,
isn’t the bare expanse of an empty field,
or the empty, mournful sensation of winter.
What I feel for you is everything.
My heart has a golden arrow in it,
I survive because of my love for you.
Not a moment passes,
without the idea of you encompassing my mind.
What I feel for you, is everything.
I’d love to consume you,
so I can feel your heart inside of my body,
beating, as proof that you love me, too.
I know your heart beats for me.
I know it does.
I want to swallow your brain
and devour your thoughts about me.
I know you think of me.
I know you do.
I want my ribs to surround you,
so you can never leave my love.
Oh, my love,
you’ll never feel something as little as nothing,
as long as you live inside of me.
No such thing as “nothing” exists,
as long as you live inside of me.
Copyright © Ally Jodway | Year Posted 2025
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Ally Jodway Poem
I clean and cook.
I nod my head and I forget your faults.
So, why won’t you let me play?
I’ve been staring out the window all day.
I steam and starch your shirts,
I pretend to sleep when you leave at night.
I don’t want to be a disgrace,
but please, let me leave this place.
I finished folding the laundry,
and I tucked the children into bed.
I laid out your cigars,
may I at least see the stars?
Nevermind.
Last night I dreamt of greeting nature.
Hello trees, hello meadows, hello grass.
I hear your breeze,
do you hear my pleas?
I put on a pretty dress,
I’ve remembered my place.
I’ll stop peering out the window to see the view;
instead, I’ll stare out the window and patiently wait for you.
Copyright © Ally Jodway | Year Posted 2025
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