My Mother’s breath
Pleads in guttural tones
As weeping waters
Meet disintegrating dreams
In a sludge
Constricting
Twelve glaring eyes
Twelve haughty nares
Hold icy judgement
Exhaling societal maleficence
Like snowflakes
Smothering
We are the lost sons and daughters
Of sacrifice
Of sleepless nights
Of labor pains
Birthing high hopes
Slowly
Faltering
Yet
If you look up
From the bitter dregs of disappointment
There stands a Mother’s prayer
A consistent shield
Cushioning
Aaishah Mayet was born and bred in the City of Gold, Johannesburg, South Africa. She currently works in the Healthcare sector which, for her, has bridged the frontiers of our shared human experience. As a self-confessed bibliophile of many years, literature remains, at once, her teacher and her sanctuary. Her works include Haiku published in the Lotosblute, as well as poetry published online on Poetry Potion, Active Muse and Amaliah.