dear mother

By Julia Wysokinska

A speaker reflects on their treatment of their mother.

dear mother

i wonder what you think of me
as i sit in my room in the warm spring afternoon
my blinds blocking the bright yellow sunlight
but a lamp plugged into the wall
illuminating the space


i wonder what you think of me
sipping imported brewed bean water from far away
crunching on mass manufactured cane sugar
grown on islands brought by steamboats


i wonder what you think of me
blasting the air conditioner
instead of cracking open a window
and letting the gentle refreshing breeze cool me off


i wonder what you think of me
as i stand in the shower
for hours on end
as viable water washes over me
just so i can lose control of my mind for just a moment it seems


i wonder what you think of me
buying clothes everyone else is wearing
made from silk cotton velvet leather
only to wear it for a season
and retire it to the depths of my closet


i wonder what you think of me
taking a joyride in my dad’s car
using gallons of gas to circle the parking lot
blaring music to block out the pointlessness of it all


i wonder what you think of me
as i take what’s yours and run it into the ground
with no concern as to what it means to you
or how it must hurt
cause pain
break you. 

Process

The idea for this poem came about during a Girls Write Now workshop in celebration of Earth Day. We were prompted to write poems about Mother Earth, and I decided to write from the perspective of someone who’s being careless with the Earth’s resources. I wanted this to be a multimedia piece, and so I utilized my graphic design skills to create an abstract accompanying set of images.