[Maryann Corbett]

The Monster's Mother

After the monster's death, the monster's mother,
in her impervious carapace of grief,
arrives to pass her loss on to another.

Without her monster, who will ever love her?
It's no use calling him a thug, a thief.
After the monster's death, the monster's mother

knows only that each child is like no other
and only killing others brings relief.
Dying to pass her loss on to another,

she drags one to the bottom to discover
companionship in woe, however brief.
After the monster's death, the monster's mother

clings to despair and fury like a lover.
Guilt comes in waves, pounding her like a reef.
Though she may pass her loss on to another,

the loss remains. Revenge is fleeting. Of her
other desires, oblivion is chief.
After the monster's death, the monster's mother
must die, too. Every loss leads to another.