A Great Poem

My Mum is not on my side.
I know which side she’s on.
She’s not concerned with big ideas-
Good and evil, right and wrong.

I have no doubt she loves me,
And I love her in return,
Never measuring how much love
Her love for me should earn.

My Mum’s not anti-social.
She obeys a million laws.
Ask why she’s so pliant
And shell answer, "Just because."

There’s no end of her submission
To man’s disciplining rod.
But watch how fast she stiffens
When her orders come from God.

My Mum wears mental blinders
To keep her eyes from seeing.
She doesn’t want to think of
What she’s capable of being.

She rarely looks around her
Or wonders how or why,
But ambles through her numbered days
As if nothing meets her eye.

My Mum believes in government
With all her heart and soul.
She pays her taxes cheerfully
And lives her servile role.

Shed never point a finger
Nor register a doubt,
Much less offer interference
Or demand an account.

My Mum’s plugged into TV;
She’s watched since she was young.
Her mind’s a thin, blank volume
Opined at page one.

She goes through stacks of novels,
Digesting one a day.
She picks them with attention
To what little they have to say.

I remember when she sat me down
And taught me what to do.
I loved her words, but those precious times
Were long ago, and few.

I don’t know how it happened,
But her head was turned around.
She lost a mother’s confidence
When the system wore her down.

As I matured and chose my way
I tangled with that Beast.
And when it won and locked me up
My hatred just increased.

My Mum was broken up, she said
Id shamed the family name.
But I looked beyond her faithlessness:
I knew who was to blame.

And now I need to sit her down
And help her find her way.
But I’m in here and she’s out there,
Not listening anyway.

My Mum has drifted far from me
In search of siren’s song.
I hope she wont forget the way,
But it may have been too long.

My Mum reminds me of my Race –
A pack of fools, I know.
But they’re the only ones I’ve got
And I love em, even so.

They’re not doing very well right now;
You’d almost think they’ve died.
But I’ve got memories of both
That swell my heart with pride.

Now I’m the son of all of these,
With many ways to go.
But, thanks to God, decision time
Has come and gone, and so

I’m not done tangling with that beast,
Though locked up I may be.
God knows the hell they’re gonna pay
For stealing Mum from me.

Randy Duey