MAR
Investment in sadness
Investment in sadness, revenue of tears
So limpid they could be bottled
Fructified by the works of a husband
With a shared syringe for mistress.
Unconscious of the pain that gave them birth
Gravity-compliant, obeying the first law of emotion,
They stream down the cheeks of the ageless mother.
Tingling the nose, lips and chin. Sparing the ears.
Bitter? Sweet? Needles to say.
Acidic? Alkaline? potential Heroine.
From her clandestine marriage onwards,
It has been of matter of liquefaction
Hand washing of her parents for dowry
Daily flushing of well-meaning society
Misery to fill an obese catalogue.
Yet pain is a potent galactagogue.
Breasts: Cans of virus-enriched milk.
Milk: Of unrequited human sadness.
And her famished, stunted baby
Positively suckles her leaking eyes.
MAR is the pen name of a writer who for personal and professional reasons prefers not to include a picture or detailed biographical information. She works in the sustainable development field and lives in Mauritius.
This poem is not previously published.