A thought-provoking storoem about two mothers. |
The documentary on TV showed the life and death of lions in wildest, uncivilized Africa, where brutality pervades and mercy goes unpracticed. From first breath a lion cub is nurtured, protected from harm. The duality of a lioness -- savage killer, gentle, loving mother – illustrates how even a ruthless beast attends her baby. An adolescent male, once he has left the pride, is another matter. A young male with leg ripped open, maybe from battles fought, approaches his mother but receives no loving welcome. Ears laid back, teeth bared, she delivers a forceful blow with her paw to his head. No reprieves from his fate will mother now provide. Lame, defenseless, the approaching night will bring his death from a pack of hyenas. His mother, impervious to his plight, abandons him without remorse. By Nature’s rules, she owes no further mothering… Meaner still was the report on the local news that night, without any doubt. Police, investigating possible child abuse, rescued a girl of age three from her mother and two male friends. The child, dehydrated, starved, her tiny body broken and scarred, lived in a world of pain and neglect. She annoyed the two men, who with a cruel smile, bragged that she was an unruly brat who needed their discipline. The mother, in a daze of drugs and sex, had abandoned her daughter to her fate. The child died -- the mother placing all blame on the men. Inside she knows she gave her baby to two human hyenas to slaughter. Recalling the lioness, I thought I knew what her thoughts would be. “Cold-hearted killer I may be, but I have the decency to protect my baby.” Ya'll are invited to come visit me at http://www.gillelands.com/poetry/ |