Poem 48 ± July 22, 2015

MAR
Investment in sadness

 

Investment in sadness, revenue of tears

So limpid they could be bottled

Fructified by the works of a husband

With a shared syringe for mistress.

Unconscious of the pain that gave them birth

Gravity-compliant, obeying the first law of emotion,

They stream down the cheeks of the ageless mother.

Tingling the nose, lips and chin. Sparing the ears.

Bitter? Sweet? Needles to say.

Acidic? Alkaline? potential Heroine.

From her clandestine marriage onwards,

It has been of matter of liquefaction

Hand washing of her parents for dowry

Daily flushing of well-meaning society

Misery to fill an obese catalogue.

Yet pain is a potent galactagogue.

Breasts: Cans of virus-enriched milk.

Milk: Of unrequited human sadness.

And her famished, stunted baby

Positively suckles her leaking eyes.

 

Version 2MAR is the pen name of a writer who for personal and professional reasons prefers not to include a picture or detailed biographical information. She works in the sustainable development field and lives in Mauritius.

This poem is not previously published.