She's trapped in constant denial

She cannot love

So, she will place her loved ones

In a confined environment

Where others will speak of their mothers

In the most unfavourable terms

She's trapped in constant denial

So, when, after leaving that place

She demands to be loved

I pretend

For years

By remaining silent

She's trapped in constant denial

Because she is rich, and I am not

She manages on her own

Trying to say

That she loves

But the words

They are empty, futile

As if someone

Had eaten chalk

Without realising it at first

She's trapped in constant denial

Without acknowledging the harm caused by her husband

She created a new life, a miniature

Of the one from her childhood

Years later, the pain is sharper

The wounds are more infected, though no one sees them

Everyone sees only the tip of their own nose

Sensing no lies, relying instead on the support

Of that Gorgon who lashes the air

With everything I loathe:

Flattery, a lack of empathy

And generosity, but only a pinch

Reserved for matters that matter to her

Rather than any true understanding of her real nature

Or how the past has shaped her and our present

She's trapped in constant denial

What no one wants to see, only I do

Everyone wants something out of it for themselves

And in the end, they’ll get it

Only not in the way

A healer would expect