Wednesday 18 November 2015

No man's land

It's no man's land, this middle ground
This place between
This warring ground
It's not a comfy place to be and yet so often here I am
Between the father and the son
Between the siblings oh so angry
Between parents and the man I love
Between the the step father and the son
Between the son and my own partner
Between the partner and the daughter
In the middle here I stand
Here I am in no mans land
I buffer anger
Take the strain
I lie
I cover up the pain
Words spoken in annoyance, in anger
Aimed at me, because here I stand
In the middle here I stand
Here I am in no man's land
As I think back to a childhood home
To things I said
To words I've thrown
At my mother when meant for stepfather
At my mother when meant for my father
At my mother when meant for my brother
It's not a comfy place to be and yet so often here she stood
She brought messages of other's anger, with kinder words and pain diluted
In the middle here she stands
Here she stands in no man's land
In home on home across the land
She takes the strain, absorbs pain
She fears that they will fall out
And in her love she takes the clout
Again and again these sucker punches
She keeps the peace
She breathes it in
In her heart she feels the pain
From all directions time and again
Men and children carry on
They are unburdened of the wrong
That so upset them they had to speak
Not to the perpetrator of their grief, but to her
In the middle here we stand
We women, here in no man's land