Yet Another Letter to My Mother
by Claire Scott

I tried and tried to love you
or at least to forgive you
did I
did I really try
really
or did I take on the burnt
and bitter of an abused child
curling into my story like a snail
in a too tight shell
something to wrap around
a hollow center
so people will notice me
not like a mother who was too
manic to care, too depressed
to cook, only a can of beans
or a bowl of shredded wheat
my shell hardens
as the years pass
when all it takes is a simple
I forgive you to a ghost
who couldn’t mother
whose mother couldn’t mother
a simple I love you
that would set me free



 

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