This poem is inspired by an image on the Art Gallery of Ontario's website.
Resigned, surprised,
Black single mother
Abandoned, abhorred,
Working three jobs
And there is more:
Control choking like a noose
Taking away car keys so you can't leave home.
Feeling alienated, isolated, so alone
Feeling like a martyr
Your life force shook out of you
Now raising three kids on your own
Where do you find the money to survive?
Only God knows;
Slave to the dollar...
Isn't it the same as wearing an iron collar connected to chains?
Plantation: the minimum wage workplace,
Yet dignity still remains.
You are shocked that you look so much older
Tired, but much more bolder
Green curlers in your hair
Domesticity a dare:
For you are working at all hours of the day--
Trying to make your way
Into the Canadian dream...
Where nothing is as it seems.
But looking in the mirror
You know that you are a survivor
Sticking to your values, your truth,
To yourself never a liar
Hoping for that better day--
Where comfort, ease, and a single good income
Are possible, not a great obstacle.
Poetry by Alison Clarke
Read 877 times
Written on 2006-08-23 at 05:41
Tags Abuse Survival Black
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Survival
Resigned, surprised,
Black single mother
Abandoned, abhorred,
Working three jobs
And there is more:
Control choking like a noose
Taking away car keys so you can't leave home.
Feeling alienated, isolated, so alone
Feeling like a martyr
Your life force shook out of you
Now raising three kids on your own
Where do you find the money to survive?
Only God knows;
Slave to the dollar...
Isn't it the same as wearing an iron collar connected to chains?
Plantation: the minimum wage workplace,
Yet dignity still remains.
You are shocked that you look so much older
Tired, but much more bolder
Green curlers in your hair
Domesticity a dare:
For you are working at all hours of the day--
Trying to make your way
Into the Canadian dream...
Where nothing is as it seems.
But looking in the mirror
You know that you are a survivor
Sticking to your values, your truth,
To yourself never a liar
Hoping for that better day--
Where comfort, ease, and a single good income
Are possible, not a great obstacle.
Poetry by Alison Clarke
Read 877 times
Written on 2006-08-23 at 05:41
Tags Abuse Survival Black
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
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