WHY DID MOMMY LEAVE

 

ROBERT MARGETTS

WHY DID MOMMY LEAVE YOU?

"Was it my fault?" asked his son.

His father froze,

The question striking harder

Than any shattered plate.

His eyes sank to the kitchen floor,

To the mountain of crusted dishes

Slumped in a cold, silent sink,

To coffee-stained mugs,

Their handles snapped like broken promises,

Scattered across the countertops.

Jagged shards of ceramic

Glittered beneath the overhead light

Like fragments of the life he'd wrecked,

Spilling across the kitchen tile

Like fallen stars no one wished upon.

The dishes bore the scars of his rage.

That was how he punished himself.

When guilt became too heavy to carry,

He hurled it at plates,

At glasses,

At anything that would break

More easily than he had.

Bent forks and chipped bowls

Littered the room like evidence,

Each piece whispering memories

Of vows traded away

For temptation,

For selfishness,

For a fleeting hunger

That left nothing behind

But ashes and regret.

Of everything he had destroyed.

Of everything he had abandoned

To rust and decay.

So he stood in silence,

A statue carved from remorse,

Hearing his son,

Yet unable to answer.

His hurt sat inside him

Like stagnant water,

Dark and unmoving.

“No,” he whispered.

“She left because of me.”

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS POEM?

The central meaning of the poem is accountability, regret, and the lasting consequences of personal choices.

On the surface, it's about a son asking his father why he got divorced. But beneath that, the poem explores a man confronting the damage he caused to his family through infidelity, neglect, and dishonesty.

ROBERT MARGETTS