ARTWORK: Emily O’Neill
Motherland By S. Lazarus
When my mother left there was fire – The air ripe with the wrong things; tears, skin, fear Feet bolting down dirt roads going nowhere Liberty caged Beyond the reach of black and brown hands Too close and too far Onto a boat and into the New World Where the sky went on forever Colour and space Gumtrees Birds that laughed and sang Tires screeching down brand new highways Shock Adaption Light The old home sits there still My mother’s first love Beauty without warmth Death with no birth It beckons Bleeds But that story is over Life is freer And she is here
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