Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

 

 

I let the Light in

I was brought up in a dark place

My mother’s mind controlled everything

How you should feel, the way to think, to speak

To keep the memory of this to a minimum

I let my mind become a delicious blank

Like a sheet of white paper.

Let others think of their childhood

I do not wish to listen, for fear my mind

Become permanently glazed.

I find the need to frame each thought

As if filing them away for safe keeping

Lest my mother tells me it is

The wrong kind of thought.

God forbid my mind has become so weak

I need bait to keep it ticking over to my will

A box like Pandora’s where I can hide

My name alongside Hope.

Having let the light in these days

I snap back a lot quicker

These days I let my thoughts freewheel

Walking in the rain, they splash around

Like a happy five-year-old.

Later, I would like to add more names to my box

Husband, children, family

Maybe then, I will no longer wail in the dark

As I try to sleep

It all depends on the kindness of fate…