Pink Tutu

She couldn’t save her

Nobody could

It was an impossible job to fulfill

She danced as fast as she could

Wearing shiny patent leather tap shoes then

Tiny dainty ballet slippers accented by frilly pink tutus

She played piano sweetly

The notes floating around the house

Attaching themselves to Clemente sonatinas and Mozart sonatas then

Recitals filled with Schumann and Bach

She read hundreds of books

Journeying though thousands of fantastic worlds

Keeping up a running travelogue then

Earned decent grades

Had good friends

Still she couldn’t save her

The sweaty hand always on her arm

While walking down long halls

Or through the mall

The anxiety kept barely beneath the surface

Your mother was never as happy as when she brought you home her aunt said

The baby that was supposed to fix her

Bring her joy and normalcy

The girl child charged with those herculean tasks

Fix your mother

Make her better

Fill her world with joy

Crowd out the angst

But she couldn’t save her

Perhaps to the disappointment of others

Always put to the test

Do it small blond girl they’d say

Make your mother happy

We demand it

But she couldn’t save her

No one could

Not a tiny baby

Not a small child

She tried

Unwittingly

Just by being and doing

Unknowingly knocking her young head against an impenetrable wall

And one day

At eight years old

Her mother told her that she'd have to get herself ready and off to school all on her own

Mrs. Glazer doesn’t get up for Gary in the mornings any more she told her and I am not getting up for you

And so she fixed her own breakfast

Packed her lunch

And got herself to school on time

Never knowing how odd that was

Thinking nothing of it

Just doing it

Being independent

But she still couldn’t save her

©kcasady2014