Rude Awakening Poem by Mary Champion

Mallory's Mum
is as cool as they come -
she's a friend to the Earth and the Sky.
She sings about peace,
wants all conflict to cease
and disharmony leads her to cry.

When Mallory's bad,
she will feel a bit sad -
but she never gets cross to his face
because anger might harm -
it is best to be calm -
instead she smiles sweetly and says:


"Now darling, you know
that you shouldn't act so
and it upsets poor Mummy to see
that you did what you did,
not the things you were bid -
so please be a good boy -for me."

But Mallory sees
she's as cool as you please.
And she certainly doesn't seem glum.
Clearly sad ain't so bad,
there's worse moods to be had.
He can't see that he's really hurt Mum.


And that's how it goes,
as Mallory grows,
till he's bigger and stronger than she.
Still she'll always react
with quiet patience and tact
when her baby behaves O-T-T.

One night, in a club,
or could be a pub,
our hero is being a pain.
And he hasn't a clue
what some people will do
when their anger is given free rein

When he steps on the toes
of a thug, he soon knows
not everyone takes it like Mum.
Their smile is not sweet
nor their anger discrete
when someone's a pain in the bum.

When he comes home that night,
he's a bruised, bloody sight
and Mum cannot hide her distress.
"My poor darling", she cries,
"Your split lips! Your black eyes! "
How come you are in such a mess? "

"Oh Mother", he bleats,
'it's so wild on the streets,
not everyone's calm and restrained.
I just never knew -
never learned it from you-
that anger's not always contained."