Hush Poem by Janet Budd

Hush my pretty baby lying in your pram
Listen to some words of wisdom from your Mam.
Because you are a girl-child folk will bill-and-coo
Tell you that you’re beautiful, a ‘little angel’ too.
Before you get big headed and think its your lucky day
I really have to tell you, there’s a price to pay.
Now love’s a little word that’s bandied round a lot.
But what a lot of meaning that tiny word has got.
When people say they love you, especially the men
What they’re really meaning is, they want you to love them.
You have to love completely and if you don’t you’re bad
‘Cos you’re the cause of other people being sad
Now there is one person, you mustn’t love too much
The person in the mirror labelled do-not-touch.
By the time you are a woman and you’ve learned your role in life;
To make those round you happy, to be a perfect wife
There’s a certain thing called anger that rears its head up high
It fills the void that too much giving leaves inside.
Like a smouldering chip pan you’ll suddenly explode
But will your loved ones calm those flames, I don’t think so, No,
They’ll point accusing fingers. You’ve broken all the rules.
You’ve rocked the boat, You’ve spilled the beans, Its true
When you’ve learned this painful lesson, you can start to grow.
Nurture yourself, love yourself. Very soon you’ll know
There’s another person who importantly exists
Who lives, who thinks, who feels, who needs, loving for herself.