Forgotten Mother

A mother forgotten by children,
but not sisters and nieces
who pick up the pieces shattered
on the floor on her birthday.
Lunch is filling, the atmosphere relaxing
but still I remember the absence of cousins.
A son who owes her so much, a daughter
who takes advantage so often.

Between them they could give her so much,
instead they only give txt messages and
a belated bottle of wine. She aches with it.

I dread to think how she would feel
if not for the sisters, the nieces and the lunch.
It is the simple things of a gift in a carefully
chosen giftbag, filled with tiny pieces of her.
She smiles and she holds back tears and
the presents are clutched to her breasts
like shards of hope that she might be
worth it still.