Poem: "The Wax Wife"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem was sponsored out of general donations for the October Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from dulcinbradbury. It takes a look at how parenthood can blur the boundaries of self and lead to people trying to live vicariously through their children.

The Wax Wife

I am the good wife. I am the loving mother.
The heat of these things makes my heart melt,
Makes my skin run like wax in the summer sun.
They are my life – my children, my husband.
What need have I of self? They are enough for me.
The dreams of my girlhood are glassed and preserved
In jars on a high shelf, with hand-lettered labels,
Waiting for my daughters to grow into them.
My sons? I don’t know what dreams are in store for them.
Ask their father.