Wednesday, 21 August 2013

A Hard Life

Born into a family that didn’t care
Made to do more than her fair share

Overlooked because she was a girl
Watched her sad life unfurl

Worked to bring home the bread
Treated with contempt instead

It became harder each day to cope
And yet she did not lose hope

She just wanted her own home
And waited for that day to come

She married a man with two kids
She thought, of this house, I’ll be rid

Things though became more dire
She was little more than a maid for hire

Less a home, more a hell
Not a soul could she tell

Beaten, abused, when she did no wrong
But all through it her faith stayed strong

Then her tormenter died
Finally there was no need to hide

Brought up the kids as best she could
They never lacked for love or food

Then they grew up and were gone
And so her duty was done

All these years they never looked back
It’s their company she lacks

Her bones are tired, her spirit is spent
And she knows she's nearing her end

As her weary eyes look for respite
So begins her long day’s journey into night

*Written to fit this brief: I've always been a sucker for a good title. For me, the title sets the tone of the poem/book/movie and a good one will at least make me pause to dig deeper. That's why I endeavor to find the best title I can for my own poems as well. The first thing a prospective reader sees before anything else is the title. With that in mind, I choose as the title for this week's Prompt:
"Long Day's Journey Into Night"

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to write a poem that MUST use this famous title as a phrase somewhere in your poem but CAN NOT be the title of your own poem.

© 2013 Uma Venkatraman ~ All Rights Reserved

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