Mother,
strange goddess face
above my milk home,
that delicate asylum,
I ate you up.
All my need took
you down like a meal.
What you gave
I remember in a dream:
the freckled arms binding me,
the laugh somewhere over my woolly hat,
the blood fingers tying my shoe,
the breasts hanging like two bats
and then darting at me,
bending me down.
The breasts I knew at midnight
beat like the sea in me now.
Mother, I put bees in my mouth
to keep from eating
yet it did no good.
In the end they cut off your breasts
and milk poured from them
into the surgeon's hand
and he embraced them.
I took them from him
and planted them.
I have put a padlock
on you, Mother, dear dead human,
so that your great bells,
those dear white ponies,
can go galloping, galloping,
wherever you are.
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Comments3Just read this really deep poem for school that talks about a mother's sacrifices. Makes me really think, you know? "I ate you up. All my need took you down like a meal." So intense! Why do you think the poet compared the mom to food?
Wow, I just came across a deep, visceral poem and it really hit home. It's raw and painful, dealing explicitly with the themes of motherhood, need, loss, and the complex love-hate bond between mother and child. The poet uses vivid and stark imagery that is hard to forget. It's definitely not for the faint of heart, but it is oddly beautiful and impactful in its own gritty, haunting way.
Anne Sexton got me feelin a little emotional 🥺😢👌🏻