Matriarchy
by Maria Masington
Mary watched her mother
lug American Tourister bags
down the driveway,
shove them into the trunk of
her champagne-colored Ford,
and get behind the wheel.
She would always remember
her tenth birthday as the day
Mom drove out of their world.
Thirty years later
Mary sits in her kitchen,
staring at the Lazy Susan,
a medication-laden bull’s eye
in the middle of her table.
A carousel of chemical cures.
Pfaltzgraff salt and pepper shakers
hide amid tawny bottles with
childproof lids, each bearing
the name of someone she loves.
Lasik. Klonopin. Ritalin,
Lipitor. Antabuse. Lithium.
Everything but the estrogen patches
that she keeps next to her bed,
elixirs that assuage their symptoms
but never provide a cure.
She spins the emotional roulette wheel,
ignores the impulse to repeat history,
tells herself she will not walk out,
but finally understands
why her mother ran away.
lug American Tourister bags
down the driveway,
shove them into the trunk of
her champagne-colored Ford,
and get behind the wheel.
She would always remember
her tenth birthday as the day
Mom drove out of their world.
Thirty years later
Mary sits in her kitchen,
staring at the Lazy Susan,
a medication-laden bull’s eye
in the middle of her table.
A carousel of chemical cures.
Pfaltzgraff salt and pepper shakers
hide amid tawny bottles with
childproof lids, each bearing
the name of someone she loves.
Lasik. Klonopin. Ritalin,
Lipitor. Antabuse. Lithium.
Everything but the estrogen patches
that she keeps next to her bed,
elixirs that assuage their symptoms
but never provide a cure.
She spins the emotional roulette wheel,
ignores the impulse to repeat history,
tells herself she will not walk out,
but finally understands
why her mother ran away.
Maria Masington is a poet, author, and spoken word artist from Wilmington, Delaware. Her poetry has appeared in over a dozen publications including Adanna, The News Journal, The Broadkill Review, and Earth’s Daughters. She has also had six short stories published in anthologies through Smart Rhino Publications and Cat & Mouse Press. Maria is a member of the Written Remains Writers Guild and The Mad Poets Society and is an emcee and featured poet on the local art scene. She has been a guest on WVUD ArtSounds and a three-time Delaware Division of the Arts fellow for poetry and prose retreats.