Hard Work

 

                                                                     By John Grey

You’re the only boy,

the youngest of five.

One mother plus four surrogates –

you grew up being not only loved

but praised for just being you.

 

Whatever are the opposite of scars,

that’s what you bear,

from being gently handled,

never admonished,

forgiven in advance

for any malfeasance.

 

So here you are, at twenty-one.

with a history of bad grades behind you.

And too lazy to get off the couch

to go look for a job.

 

Your sisters have left home.

Your father also.

Now there’s just the two of you.

 

Your mother works hard

scrubbing floors at the hospital

just to support herself and her little man.

And she works hard in the home

to make it neat and clean.

She works even harder

to keep on idolizing you.

And harder still to be convinced

that her hard work is working.

About the Author:

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, California Quarterly and Lost Pilots. Latest books, “Between Two Fires”, “Covert” and “Memory Outside the Head” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in the Seventh Quarry, La Presa and Doubly Mad.