Spinning Spinning
I heard a woman say
she’s not heartbroken
for not having children
I wouldn’t have been a good mother she said
a very brave and poetic thought
an emotional and intelligent thought
wouldn’t it be wonderful
if all the people
whose children end up
broken and defeated
beaten down and abused
by broken and defeated adults
who once were
beaten down and abused themselves
wouldn’t it be wonderful
if they were brave and poetic
and thought with emotion and intelligence
and said to themselves
I wouldn’t be a good parent
instead of having children
they really don’t want
and imposing the heartbreak
of their own childhoods
into the laps and childhoods
of their children
before simply walking away
leaving everyone broken
when you have a shitty day in golf
and pound your club into the ground
you look stupid
and the club gets broken
but when you have a shitty day in life
and you beat your kids into the ground
you look much more than stupid
you look desperate and afraid
and innocent lives get broken
children aren’t a game
they aren’t objects
how do we keep breakables
out of the reach
of adults with shitty lives
the rhythm of the earth
is speeding up
life is speeding up
the brokenness of the world
is speeding up
and our children are
spinning
spinning
— DL Madsen
