For his mother
Your heart is as the coolness
of all winters, with no repenting.
You dare say to me, Why?
Why do I need you?
I laugh now
because all tears have left my eyes
with years of deception.
I should have never lived for us
’cause only you came out
victorious.
While I, me,
while I cast down all the lovers
truer to me than my future,
for you?
While I walked the lines of poverty,
for you?
Shared your enemies,
Bore your children
So your name lives on.
Slept, wept and lived for you,
and your love.
And in return
you left me
And that is why I feel
defeated.
© B.Michael Hunter 1975
