Tribute

She takes the rap
Everything I dish out
If only in my mind
She keeps moving
Her shoulders hunched
From burden of a life
Unfiltered.

No one kept her safe

Loved her, told her
She was special.
No one showed her how
To be a woman, mother, wife
Have respect for self
How a good man behaves.

No one said you are pretty,

Smart, kind, strong or loveable
She had to eke out a life
Without guidance, love
Or help of any kind face.

She survived and was

Toughened by a life hard
From the beginning
She knew what to expect
What she'd get from this
Life that spit her out.

She didn't know marrying

An abusive man would be
Her undoing where hope
Was concerned. She gave us
What she knew, a good spanking.

She ridiculed and set up, made a sport

Out of beatings. Didn't hug, touch.
Her children never heard I love you
Or you are precious or pretty or smart
For she didn't believe in spoiling kids
Or giving them the big head. She kept
The six at bay so she could have a life.

Such as it was. Her husband came first.

He ate steak while they went hungry.
She'd say she gave her life up for them
And I know she did. A husband who drank away
What he made, six mouths to feed with no support
Her life swallowed up in have-to's and wants
And all the never haves.

They were never a consideration for her

She didn't raise kids to think differently
She worked hard to keep them down
She'd never raised an uppity kid.
She did a good job by her standards
She worked all her life to make sure
She handed down all her knowledge.