Buttons

There are laces we tie up and zippers we zip
There are snaps we snap snugly with nary a quip
There are hooks that get hooked at the neck's lovely nape
As we dress up for dinner's much needed escape.

But the buttons we push just by being one's self
When they leak hideousness from the very top shelf
And that black gooey stuff with those sharp little shards
That can hardly be cleaned, though we try oh-so-hard
Keeps on drippin', then runnin' a strong steady stream
Until every thing's sopped; patience, hope, love and dreams
Once we're stepping in muck and we're covered in goo
Seems the self that I thought was the right self won't do.

So it's back to the salt mines, yup, back to my core
Back to the original factory store
To tear down the walls, asbestos and black mold,
(I pray I can do this, that I'm not too old)
Like the bionic woman I'll stop at no end
To re-code and re-build me as Mom, wife and friend.

It's gonna get ugly and messy and ick
There's no other way, there is simply no trick
To avoid the inevitable unbearable truth
(It's been chasing me since I got off in Duluth)

So here I go on this most treach'rous of trips
I feel bad for the stains left from those nasty drips
Please move a small rug, shift the couch, inch the chair,
And for heaven's sake do wash the pain from your hair,
And I'll do the same and then before we know it
Time will have passed and then more time will show it
Was best for us all, was the best we could do
So anon the next phase, the next chapter or two

I'm gonna need tissues, some wine and a cookie,
I'll slump to the floor, yes, and moan like a Wookie,
But I'll get by like the vast hoards gone before me
And tepidly, gingerly glide gently toward thee
My blessings are many, my good fortunes, great
I'll cover my grey hairs and gain back the weight

Then one bright fine day I won't sob any longer
I'll stride from the ashes a bit happier, a lot stronger
I'll dust off my funny bone and my thinking cap
And I'll write it all down and then take a long nap
Then wake up and pick up my sweet son from school,
He's my bright shining star and he's no body's fool

He'll bounce back as I will, he's young and he's malleable
Our family we'll cherish as precious and valuable
Together we'll forge, yes, our problems we'll suck up
I'll do what I can so that he's not a fuck up

Like his parents, grandparents and those gone before
Such damage to undo'll take patience galore
And willpower, fortitude, gumption and grace
I'll put feet in my mouth and get egg on my face

But I'll try and I'll try and I'll try with great might
Until one fine clear evening when saying goodnight
I'll look up at the full moon and down at my son
And know without a doubt that a battle I've won
OK, maybe not won but triumphed just a bit
So the buttons I push don't turn evr'ything to shit.

The End.

(Smile and curtsy. Blow a kiss. Wave. Exit stage left.)