I stay in this house
from morn till night
And cook and clean and wash
Mountains of shirts
and pants
and nappies
and dresses
then you say
I am only fit to do domestic work
I stay in this house
from morn till night
And kitchy-kitchy coo
da da
ma ma
With the children
Then you wonder
Why i only talk baby- talk
I stay in this house
from morn till night
And share all the gossip
and woes
with my sister across the fence
who stays in that house
from morn till night
Then you ask
Why do i nag and gossip so
I stay in this house
from morn till night
Oblivious
of national production targets
foreign exchange deficits
neutron death
MX missiles
Star wars at the door
American boots of death
Over new-born Nicaragua
Ten million feet
One hundred million hearts
Beating for peace and life
Multi-coloured hourdes of
mankind shouting yes to
Social Revolution
Social revolution
which alone
can free me
from staying in this house
from morn till night
And from the making of which
is demanding
demanding
demanding
That i no longer stay
in this house
from morn till night
ELEAN THOMAS
Some liberating feminist poetry from the life of a carribean woman.
what inspired this, a sunday spent cleaning up after kids straight from an episode of "desperate housewives". lord save us all from the 'spare the rod love the child' syndrome.
i have a theory, kids are like dogs, training when young, goes a long way. dont get me wrong, i love kids, cant stand parenting, that does'nt know the meaning of the word discipline.
one day, and i rejoice in the sounds of silence, but i wanna know, how does the domestic sphere deteriorate into absolute chaos?
how please tell me?
liberate me from inadequacy.
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About Me
- africanfragments
- johannesburg, gauteng, South Africa
- passionate bout all things literary. dislike, stupidity and insincerity.
3 comments:
ya, ruby. have a laugh at my expense, 4 screaming, "bundles of joy" 2 mother's none of whom had a handle on what needed to be done.
personally a paddle on the backside goes a long way,
then we gotta worry bout corporal pumishment, and such like. no wonder the modern kid, is so monstrous. the old adage, spare the rod and spoil the child, get's my vote. :)
nah!!!!
the modern kid is different from us, because we grew up in a different time, we just have to accept those changes and get on with it.
maybe i am saying that because i am not a parent, maybe i will think differently when i have some of my own...
fair enough, but surely discipline, is something that a parent shouldnt overlook, so a paddle on the backside is old school, but who has the upper hand, parent or child?
im sure one could show the kid's who's in charge, when they become unrully, and just plain, too much to take, i really believe it's bad parenting.
have you ever had friends, who bring their kids over and you wish they wouldn't, or when they rang the bell, and ure security camera, let you know who it was, and you just don't answer the doorbell.
thats bad parenting, kids are great, a blessing really its the adults who have to get a grip.
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