Responsibility

free verse, poems, poetry, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

circle of sand

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The sandy circle has me in a trap,
encompassing endless expectations
which I must fulfil.
Duty-bound,
I hide the weariness
that acts of love may bring;
the generosity that oft-times
binds me to silent  misery.
Familial responsibility
is my prison,
and yet,
should an angry tide
wash away the gritty line,
though life would be simplified,
I would be bereft.

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Written for The Sandbox Challenge 2012 – Exercise 12

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©Jane Paterson Basil

33 thoughts on “Responsibility”

  2. Oh Lordy, Jane… I SOO connect with your last thought there. We get so tired of being caregivers. But the truth is it’s so much a part of us that if we lose that role we’re a little lost. At least that’s how it feels to me… LOVED this!

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  3. Pingback: The Sandbox Writing Challenge 2018 — Exercise 12 | Impromptu Promptlings

      1. I think it’s the word entrapment that grates with me. Perhaps my perception is coloured by the fact that our ‘choice’ to become parents was taken from us by fate , or whatever you want to call sterility, It led us down so many unexpected paths filled with hurt, pain, fear, disillusionment…. until we eventually had that little bundle of joy in our arms. I could not ever think of that as entrapment. Yes, there are obligations, challenges and such. But never is it an entrapment. I’ve looked at the dictionary definitions and they all include the word trickery…..so do we choose willfully to trick ourselves into a lifetime commitment of parenting? Aah, I’m rabbiting on….

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        1. You have a point. I should have said it’s a trap that we choose, not an entrapment. I’ve been having a tough time with Paul. I think it’s influenced the words I use. He definitely entraps me, but that’s not normal behaviour toward a parent, especially bearing in mind that he’s thirty years old.

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          1. I know, Jane 🙂 It’s me, being nit-picky from my perspective. I have read your email and you are well justified to feel entrapped xxx

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  6. Oh, my word, lady, you are so right! Duty and responsibility hang heavy sometimes when all you want is to be you, to write, to think, to garden! But love pulls you back, makes you act for others, knowing all the while it would gut you were they gone.
    So absolutely perfect, I’ve been stupid to try to articulate it myself when you did it so much better.

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