Love Her So Much [r] Poem by Margaret Alice Second

The magic of dreams, of consciousness, of having
been taught infallible terms to realise visions; each
time my laptop at home stops working & refuses to
open, claiming flat battery despite an electric cable
connecting it, I pray, using a still effective scheme
taught me as a child, then remove and reinsert the
battery, reconnect the cable & lo, my laptop opens;
I can pour out joys & tragedies - the joy is my little
girl's landed a lovely job on a cruise ship - tragedy
is each time I print the information for her I realise

She'll be gone for a long time; my motherly instinct
makes me cry, already wrenching my heart to think
she'll be so far away, its terrible being torn between
options: what's best for my daughter and my desire
to keep her with me where I can see and touch her;
I know the same magic that keeps my laptop going
will keep her safe, but oh, it's such heartache when
she's leaving, her bright little mind formed more by
TV and school than myself: No, not true, she walks
about singing her favourite songs, smiling at those

Others shun, she's a sweetheart & soon everyone
on the cruise ship will know it; I do all my crying in
advance so when the day of her leaving comes I'll
be calm & composed - she's the sweetest wee girl
the World's ever seen - love fills my heart to over-
flowing - how much she means to me just sitting in
her room pouting & publicly castigating me when
I'm too childish for her sophisticated taste, it's why
I love her so much it hurts…