The Two Mothers
A Conversation
The one who cares
is the one you abandon
to the slow germination
of village days.
The other one abandons
her few fallow acres
whose most valued possessions
are beauty & optimism
gods & demons
whose bedroom has become
a shrine to a three speed fan
and singers of renown.
One is the backbone of the shop
ironing (everything
has a perfect crease).
The other gives birth
to a confused offspring – part
bird perhaps, oddly plumed
partly you.
by Adam Aitken
from: Romeo & Juliet in Subtitles;
Brandl & Schlesinger, Sydney, 2000