Hi. My name is Earth, I have to tell you something.
I’ve never had kids like them.
They ask the most of me, and I agree,
but they still shut me out of their lives.
They’re more accomplished than any of the others,
but they still bully their smallest siblings.
I’ve never had kids like them.
Their door is closed whenever I try to reach them.
I call to them, but they ignore me.
The more desperate I become,
my tears flooding,
screams blowing into storm winds,
the farther they retreat,
and the stronger locks they make.
I’ve never had kids like them.
They shun me because they feel that they’re better than me.
If they’re so clever, they should realize that everything they’re proud of,
From quirky fingers to large heads,
Was molded by my hands
I’ve never had kids like them.
They understand that everything I give them turns to destruction in their hands,
but unyieldingly,
they watch me bleed from their slashes,
waiting for the fate they have written for themselves to arrive.
How can they forget how much bigger I am than they are?
A wound of mine, able to heal with time, would swallow them whole.
They say that home is where one’s family is.
If that’s true,
then,
No matter what these kids do,
no matter how strong the lock on their door is,
they can’t change their home anymore than they can change who their mother is.
Open the door.
Look around you, look at me,
Then you’ll see that there’s just too much for you to lose
And if you think your fate is set,
Remember that you’ve already proven your power.
Just don’t forget that, a mother loves her children,
no matter what.
She just hopes that they love her too.
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140,552 Literary Works • 673,423 Reviews
I enjoyed this poem. Since I am less familiar with poetry than with prose, I apologize for any misunderstandings in my critiques. Essentially, please take my words with a grain of salt, as I am not entirely confident in my ability to analyze poems. I particularly appreciate the mythological quality of the piece, which also evokes a biblical tone for me. I’m especially reminded of Proverbs due to the similar mother-and-child perspective. There’s something almost parentally exasperated about it. She isn’t portrayed as angry, but hurt and confused.
My biggest critique is that the poem is quite subtle for most of its length, but then the ending explicitly states the moral. While it is emotionally effective, the poem has already conveyed much of this meaning throughout. It might be stronger if it trusted the reader a bit more. I find the most interesting aspect of the poem isn’t the environmental message itself but the relationship depicted. Therefore, I would suggest making the ending less overtly moralistic and more emotionally personal. However, I wouldn't recommend making it dramatically more poetic just for the sake of sounding poetic. The conversational voice is one of its charms.
Thank you for this read.