# I've lived under her wing

Ольга Слободкина

Mother...


You have conceived me,

carried me,

gave me birth.


Breastfed me,

nurtured

on this Earth.


You brought me up,

gave education,

you stopped me

in my revelations...


I've lived my life

under her wing,

under her whim,

under her whip;

under her care

and protection;

under her pressure

and her lashing;


on her lane

under her strain,

with her pain...


I deign to her shenanigans

and treasure the rarest moments of tenderness -

only in times when I was really sick -

only in times when I was really weak,

but still - in her cage,

under her rage...


I do forgive her all her wrath

and her destructive force.


I do forgive her all -

Let her live long

or I'll be not at all.


And when the leaves

what shall I do?


I think, I'll have to leave

this cold world too...


March 15, 2023