Margaret Eddershaw
Stepmother
I am forever defined by that step
step of intrusion
into another’s place
the stepdame of fairy tales
cruelty personified.
On weekend visits we teeter netless
across the high wire of manipulation
unbalancing their world with costly treats
and sweetening our tinny taste of guilt.
I have you now
yet she has not let go.
I see her in the older boy’s wrists
the girl’s sly look
the youngest’s blonde thatch;
they are a variety of blendings of you both
that can never be sundered.
Her shadow slides between them and me
her accusations shine in their eyes
their innocent laughter feeds my paranoia.
And when they say she makes good jam
I feel lonely as the bullied child
that will always be
out of step.
step of intrusion
into another’s place
the stepdame of fairy tales
cruelty personified.
On weekend visits we teeter netless
across the high wire of manipulation
unbalancing their world with costly treats
and sweetening our tinny taste of guilt.
I have you now
yet she has not let go.
I see her in the older boy’s wrists
the girl’s sly look
the youngest’s blonde thatch;
they are a variety of blendings of you both
that can never be sundered.
Her shadow slides between them and me
her accusations shine in their eyes
their innocent laughter feeds my paranoia.
And when they say she makes good jam
I feel lonely as the bullied child
that will always be
out of step.
Page(s) 56
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