Don’t Slip

When I was struggling to connect with people who were my superiors, whose words I depended on and had to depend on in many ways,

a friend dear to my heart told me:

“Just baby them and let them have their way.”

I lowered my guard and stuck out my ear

to listen.

When I was struggling to connect with myself, feeling at a loss which I thought was incomparable at the time,

the same friend dear to my heart told me:

“Just mother yourself.”

I questioned, telling her my mother was already there with me.
She said it didn’t matter; “it seems to me that you need to be mothered still.”

I stopped seeking remorse,
seeking support.

And I found myself giving them to myself.