Parenting Never Ends

Mother, give me

back my old room

I won't make a mess like I used to,

I won't play my records

loud at nights,

I'll keep it quiet

Mother, let me have my old bed back

and lay out clothes for me.

People give me work and money

They depend on me now,

if they only knew how thin the ice they walk on is.

If they only knew how thin the ice they walk on

is

Mother, please make

my decisions

like you once did,

this time I won't pester you about it,

I'll surrender

Mother, these streets

are too cold for me

I'm standing by your door

A plant under each arm,

let me move back in

Father, the last time you offered to teach me

all about the Baltic Sea, it was wasted on me.

Now I'm ready, throw me once again

the footballs you tried to throw and this time

I will catch and learn and know

Mother, if that's not enough

bring me all the way back to

my original address

to your womb.

I have trouble sleeping but I don't recall I had while in your womb.