Liz Tucker

Mother

Why Mother? Must every piece of art

Every book, every notion of thought expiate

A time of past, a history of old

Pre-cold wars worldwide, with unforgettable dates?

Why must every word I speak, must I wary

For fear of being will-

Fully misunderstood of speaking ill?

I want to scream Not every bar of soap or skin bright as the

“Nazi lampshade” Lady Lazarus speaks of is or should be held

As truth of my heart

Of me!

It’s not right that because of you, every word I speak, I speak with chary

So can we please, for once, have a visit where again

and again and again, we do not speak of Hitler’s monstrous slay?

(Lines 8/9 are borrowed from Sylvia Plath’s Lady Lazarus)