Mother Dearest Poem by Maya Reid

You can think of me as pond scum
The biggest mistake of your life
The black sheep of the farm
The bad apple of our family tree

Make a mountain out of every molehill
Work me like a dog
Lecture me for hours
I’ll never hear a word of praise

I won’t be your paper doll
A package you can simply send away
Go ahead, push me till I’m at the end of my rope
I’ll tie a knot and hang on
Can’t change me
Can’t maim me
I ain’t goin’ down

Say that I’m not good enough
That I can’t do it
Or I won’t make it
Squash my spirit
Snatch away my soul
Demolish my dreams
Or, at least you can try

And you can think that you’re perfect
It’s how you like to come off
But in the real world, you’re far from it
If you don’t know that, I sure as hell do
Try to stop me
Block my path
Stand in my way
Or just push me over the edge
Each and every little thing that you do
Just makes my skin that much thicker
My body that much stronger
My brain that much smarter
Even you can’t bring me down

Mother Dearest, we can play for all eternity
This infernal game of cat-and-mouse
You, the predator, chasing your prey
But even as a mouse I hunt
The fleeting grasshopper of my dreams

Stalk me, hunt me, trap me, hurt me,
There’s some things you just can’t take away.