marketing motherhood

You still hold it against me

That I did not feel the surge of maternal love

When I first held you in my arms

How could I

I was too busy

writing my job description as mother

I was a prime mover

There were no rules of the game

No, correction

There was one cardinal rule

Everything that my mother never was

The right strategy to slay the wrong emotion

I didn’t want to be a friend to you

I wanted to be a mother

Who could grow with you

I wanted to be that stylus

Which specialized in north-bound learning curves

Both yours and mine

I wanted to tell you

You don’t have to make mistakes

I have made them all

Just learn from them

But the marketplace is now different

As a marketer

My role is only of the prompter

Even as I pray that you don’t botch up the lines

Sometimes maybe I want you to forget your script

So I can play my role

Most times I’m too happy that

You are so word-perfect

And my marketer’s ego just wallows in having

Created, communicated, delivered value

That’s my daughter