SICK LIT MAGAZINE

Motherhood

 

No-one warns you of the fear

simmering underneath your skin

like a fever

burning you up

 

No one tells you of the nightmares

when wide-awake

when deep in sleep

 

So how could you know before…

 

 

…before you were a walking heart

pulsating in full display

all red and soft

all tender tissue

exposed flesh

pumping blood

 

No one says

you no longer belong to yourself

 

 

When you learn how to love

with such abundance

such disregard

for your ego

everything becomes a gift

 

And you heart

-that mushy muscle,

that engine of love-

is growing bigger

with her every breath

 

They never tell you

nothing will ever feel safe

you’ve seen too much of the world,

you know

 

They never say

bedtime stories fight your monsters

walking in the shadows

creeping in the sun

 

You weild the axe

that ends the Wolf

You tear into its flesh

 

You make it right

 

 

You make it right by her

like you should

like you would

 

In bedtime stories

The Wolf never stood a chance

***

E.N. Loizis is a Greek writer, married to a Spaniard, living in Germany, writing in English. She writes flash fliction, short stories and poems, while pretending to work on her first novel. She enjoys breathing, sleeping and eating. You can find her at www.enloizis.comand https://www.facebook.com/enloizis/

*Photography courtesy of Brian Michael Barbeito*