Maid
A Poem
Memories still too raw the desperation of being a young mother unprepared for it
Even at 22 I wasn’t stupid still, I stayed I stayed and I stayed
I will never forgive myself while I remain instead I drink and eat and destroy easier to stay the decision was clear
pushed it away for eight years then I lay in bed with my 4-year-old sobbing apologizing promising perfection
All while knowing it was the boy in the next bedroom who needed the apology
the boy with shark sheets Star Wars Legos chapter books
It was him I told myself to stay for a better life financially
the guilt the evening I came home it had all crashed down alcohol destroys everything in its path it does not care who you are
my tiny baby I took responsibility then I grew up that night
I always had somewhere to go But I always came back
This poem was my reaction to the first episode of the hit Netflix show Maid and my experience witnessing alcoholism for the first time.
For help with alcohol abuse please visit the Alcoholics Anonymous website. If you are experiencing Domestic Violence please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Thank you for reading. More of my work can be found here.
-Alexandra Duncan, 2021
