Jennifer Taught Me

Jennifer taught me to be her mom.
I was young - no experience or training.
And they just placed her in my arms!
So, I took her home, and she taught me
To feed her at her own timing.
She taught me to use clean, soft
Clothing head to toe whenever
She blurped, or had a messy feed,
Or when I got her ready for a
Good night's sleep in her crib.
She told me never to walk away from
Her while she sat in her carrier
Because she did not wish to fall!
When I tried to bathe her one sunny day
Outside having read about a sunbath being
Good for one's babe, she was patient
And did not ridicule me. My mother did, tho.

And when she was forty-one years old
She taught me not to try to urge her
To come back into my life, not to tell
Me what was angering her and causing her
To stay estranged. She asked the sheriff
To put me in jail if he could because
I emailed her, that being my only way to
communicate with her. She taught me
How frightening jail would be. She even
Taught me to dislike police. She taught
Me to trust no one not even myself. She
Accused me of endless abuse and I could
Not remember doing abuse! She taught me
That my little sweet baby no longer
Wanted to teach me. I was on my own
In a lonely world of someone else's design.