My first published poem. Insert big smile. It was published in the second volume of Part-Time Poets' October edition, the theme was "Mask". All three volumes are definitely worth a read if you enjoy poetry.
05:00
A baby and a toddler wide-awake
In the pre-dawn darkness
I slip on
The Mama-mask
For them
For me
And greet the day
With a smile
On the face of my bone-tired body
09:00
“What a beautiful day”
Arms wrapped around a solid little light
We stare out the window, him on the sill
I mostly mean it
The mask and I morphing
Joy and gratitude
Seeping into me
The mask leaking
The gift and risk of mask wearing
12:00
No mask
Just me
And the kids
Food plated
Hands being held, breath drawn in
To sing enthusiastically
Grace
Moments
Of simply being
20:00
Kids asleep
Teammates talking
I slip on self-control
To mask the rage
The ironic residue of all the peacekeeping masks I wore as a child
All masks leave something
Inhale and exhale, until I can remove it
Without hurting someone
Or feeling too vulnerable
21:30
I sit and look at myself
Reflected back at me from my journal
So broken, so beautiful
There is a cost in mask wearing
And a cost in not
In the unmasked moments
Where brokenness breaks
Me
Those I love
21:31
Unsure where the masks end
And where I begin
Exposed
Safe
Surrounded by grace
As You look with me
As we do that lifelong healing dance
Let me be
Yours