By Mental Emotions
Motherhood is often spoken of with reverence and tenderness, yet for some, it carries layers of pain, inheritance, and unresolved wounds. This poem is a letter written from a place of honesty; acknowledging love, hurt, and the longing for healing across generations.
Dear Mother!
I exist because of you.
I was able to see all these years because you chose to keep me.
You raised me.
I am a woman today,
still learning how to live this life.
Growing up with you was difficult,
especially having you as my mother.
It was one of the hardest things I have ever done.
I am broken in many places,
because as my mother, I feel you failed me at some point.
All the pain you experienced as a child,
you carried it with you
and placed it on me.
I lived your painful childhood through you.
Every mistake done to you,
you repeated with me.
Every suffering you faced,
I faced it too.
I carried the weight of your wounds.
I cried through it all.
I search for release, but I have not found it.
I want to heal,
yet I am never given the space to do so.
I keep reliving this life with you,
your pain, your scars, your past,
as if I am walking a road that was never meant to be mine.
It’s painful how sometimes,
you seem to find comfort in my hurt.
As though you are taking revenge
for what was done to you
through me.
You heal, bit by bit, through my tears.
You break me with your words,
and I bleed without stopping.
Your burden is heavy on my soul.
You do not want me to leave,
because who will you place this weight on
if I go?
I want things to change.
I want to love you as my mother,
not as a vessel for your pain.
I want to forgive you and let go.
I want to clear my heart of all this hurt.
But again and again,
you burden me.
Please, let go of me.
Let me live my own life.
Unburden me.
I don’t want to cry anymore.
I don’t want to carry this pain.
I want to heal, for my children.
I want to forgive you; allow me.
I want to release all of this.
Heal, dear mother.
Reflection
This poem speaks to the quiet reality of generational pain; how unhealed wounds are passed down, often unintentionally, from parent to child. Dear Mother! is not a rejection of love, but a plea for release, understanding, and healing. It reminds us that breaking cycles begins with honesty, and that choosing healing is an act of courage not only for ourselves, but for the generations that follow.