Guilt

She wakes up early, gets ready, and prepares

Breakfast, packs lunch, every moment aware

Of the ticking of the clock, trying not to get late

For her morning meeting, oh how she does hate

Walking in ten minutes after the start of the conference

She has to drop children off to school, in her defense

*

She starts her workday feeling guilty about her tardiness

Remembering how punctuality she used to stress

In the days before motherhood and its responsibilities

These days opportunities for guilt never seem to cease

*

She works efficiently, looking at the clock all day

To complete work in time, there is no way

But she cannot stay late, one child has a game that she must attend,

So she leaves early, feeling guilty that work she has had to pend

*

She arrives late for the game, missing her child’s best shot

Disappointing her child with her absence hurts a lot

Her guilt is compounded when she realizes dinner would be

Pizza take-out, there has been no time to cook something healthy

*

Her last thought before bedtime is that she has not paid

Enough attention to her health, away from exercise she has stayed

Feeling guilty about missing her workout she resolves

To get up earlier than usual, so that this problem she can solve

****

How do women, especially mothers, live with omnipresent guilt

How are they so resiliently built

That despite constant guilt they do not break

They keep trying harder, the guilt never quite able to shake…

*

The constant guilt of trying to do it all

Is taking on women everywhere a huge toll

It’s time to let hardworking mothers know

They are more than enough, of guilt they must let go