Maternal Love

The love was sweet, soothing, quiet
And I always knew it was there
It was there under the strange cackles
The popping of her gum
The popping of her rocking chair

The maniacal popping
Obsessive, excessive, insane
The chatter, the crazy, crazy chatter
Even more incessant
But at the core was a quiet and gentle love

It wore you down, that popping and chatter
There was no end to it
There was always more and more and more
No matter how many times you begged for mercy
Still there was always that quiet and gentle love, too

When the popping and chatter exploded into drama
When the monotony of unfathomable absurdities parted
When the fear frothed into threats of violence
And her voice trembled with hatred for her “enemies”
I knew the core was still there, somewhere

She shattered like glass every day
She chattered and popped and laughed
Ah, those crazy, mean laughs, derisive and cruel
But then in a quiet moment she would settle
She would relax and smile, warmly and show that which was not broken.