"They are beautiful!" she preened, alight.
Over rusty, infecting edges, she crooned,
"They are perfect, pretty, and mine."
Striped with red, I dared to scream.
"So over-sensitive! What are you thinking of?"
Each invasion deeper, further obscene.
"Come, child, be constricted in my love."
Snake Mama can't be wrong,
And brooks no blame, she's smooth--
No harbor, no boundary, no private place
From the trenches undersea to the mountains of the moon.
Cut off one head, seven more will grow,
Each one of them speaking the same;
Snake Mama poisons her babies' bones,
Hard done by to find they're insane.
_______
Find information for daughters of narcissistic mothers HERE.
Well, this poem opens up a can of worms! There is no real horror like real life, that's for sure. You have captured the sinister undertones of the poisonous personality all too well, and the sense of helplessness one must feel to be caught up in such clutches.
ReplyDelete(I must add that I think that white snake is utterly beautiful.)
if you grew up under that i am sorry shay...the knives cut deep and the coild constrict tight...i am glad you walked through it is you did and offer hope to those that find themselves there...well penned...
ReplyDeleteThis one twists from side to side like the snake it's skinning--all the innards laid bare. Not a pretty job, but the one who's wound up has to do it. And what a damn good poem you made out of it. Makes me remember, the warm-blooded live on while the biggest reptiles ever just couldn't make the cut.
ReplyDeletea snake mama do what a snake mama do.
ReplyDeletethis just cuts it right to the bone, Shay.
I love these lines:
ReplyDelete"And brooks no blame, she's smooth"
"Snake Mama poisons her babies' bones"
You have recovered from many things Shay...you are an amazing talent, and soul.....i love your Cayce quote by the way! :-)
ReplyDeleteAre "snake mothers" akin to Helicopter Parents and Tiger Mothers?
ReplyDeleteCome on...just let your kid be a kid. Sheesh!
I've missed your poetry (and you), Shay. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis is tough to read and even tougher to imagine.
ReplyDeletewe sometimes laugh at our mothers' behavior, but at the time the pain was, i am sure, excruciating. that you can write about it so strikingly and imaginatively is all you, baby! you did survive and, beyond that, you are strong and beautiful and creative and SO much more than she ever can be.
ReplyDelete♥ {the image of the snake is going to cause nightmares, though. so does my mother for that matter. LOL}
Perfectly and beautifully expressed. Have you ever read Alice Miller's Drama of the Gifted Child? It's a classic book about children of narcissistic parents, written from a psychoanalytic perspective. Intense but very illuminating.
ReplyDelete