It’s Mothers’ Day on Sunday which prompted this choice for Friday’s poem.
The Peacock of Motherhood by Anna Jackson comes from Swings + Roundabouts, poems on parenthodd edited by Emma Neale.
The Peacock of Motherhood
This is the gift my son gave me,
strutting through my life, tail dragging,
perching on everything I do and as soon
as my back is turned, jumping down
with a thud and a cry, following me.
The pea-hen of girlhood
makes n sound now, sleeps
undisturbed. I can hardly remember
so brown a bird; if I try to think
up flashes the tail
of motherhood to distract me.
I remember she was as brown as thought.
But the peacock has found other cocks
to flash his tail at; the peacocks
of motherhood are strutting
at the school gates, the gifts
our sons gave us. The birds strut
and preen, flash their tails,
while the mothers smile
till the bell goes.
– Anna Jackson –
Homepaddock 