Gillie Bolton

Mum's a juggler of dates and plans,
plates and pans all go up in the air
to be caught in her hands that do dishes

it's mum who can make a wet morning shine
when it's mucky outside
pancakes are suns and lemons are moons

in the sizzling fat of the tossing
and twirling deep yellow of batter
and the curl of the butter, cascade of fine sugar

the drizzles of syrup and milk
frothing white as the cumulus clouds
mop up the misery of moping indoors.

But - there's a monster
who jeers and who leers
from the mouth of the mask of the mummy

who shouts in her mending of squabbles and muddles,
flour on the floor and mud in the sink
and everyone melts.

Mum in a miserable puddle wants tea and a cuddle
someone to sit on her knee, to nestle up close
and not want the marvel of spangle of balls in the air.

Now she's dropped all the balls, she'll try a new guise

for Mum the magician
has marvellous moments
a magical Mum is a must for the home

out of her hat come socks and pyjamas
money on Monday, medicine
and music

magical mum when she looks in the mirror
sees only the back of her head
for the razzle, the dazzle

the speed of her life
ensure she is always just one trick ahead
moving much faster than light

with a quick sleight of hand, she puckers
and pulls at the rubber of the skin
of the mask on her head

she yanks it right off - Abracadabra -
there's the mum of the the moment
with a smile and clean floor and white sheets

she's a fresh face for each day
but peel them off as she may
what's beneath is still only

a mask.

Gillie Bolton
Hole in the Moon (poetry collection); Leicester : Waldean Press