Portrait Of A Loving Woman As A Homemaker

– after reading Nome Patrick

The first time I saw my father distraught, he had just lost his job
Like a kid who lost their teeth, it willed an ache in his being
My mother welcomed him into her arms & thanked God it wasn’t his breath
It’s not the end, my dear. God knows what is best

Those were the words she fabricated to envelop him
My mother became a self-appointed preacher at home,
When a door closes, another opens. Everything is in God’s hands

Inflamed with ardent hope, father moved with the wind,
pommeling on every company’s door in the city,
but they never unclutched to entertain the underside of his feet
Months rolled by & we were compelled to ration his savings
When no job loomed over my father, mother relinquished her retail shop to him
so he wouldn’t…