at all—the fact is, she’s incapable
of loving me like a mother should.
So I can’t let myself love her
like a daughter should. To unlock
myself in such a way would simply
be an invitation to heartbreak.
ALMOST DONE
Feeling sorry for myself when
a little warning chimes in my head.
Mom is the queen of denial.
Not her meth? Maybe not, but
odds are
decent she’s using again.
Wouldn’t be the first time
she jumped off the wagon.
One time she came to visit so
high
that she didn’t realize the guy
she was putting the moves on
happened to be my caseworker.
Not like we all couldn’t tell
she
was lit. Her sweat-sequined skin
leaked a smell like tar remover.
When Darla asked if she wanted
to join us for dinner, Mom
lied,
claiming a bad case of fast-food
poisoning. And when the cute
clean-cut dude finally mentioned