Zoe Nyght - Secrets

I’m in my room and I don’t mean to overhear
my mother talking to her lover
who is not my father,
(she doesn’t like me knowing, even
after the divorce) and
who may or may not be
her lover anymore, anyway,
after their conversation about all the things her therapist told her
for example,
Stand Up For Yourself and Stick With Your Convictions
but in our little apartment our rooms are so close
and in a flurry, voices rise. Neither do I mean to forget
three hours later
that our rooms are so close and voices rise
when I’m talking to Danielle about whether we should get a pipe
or a bong
for all the weed we’re going to smoke this weekend
weed
is something my mother does not approve of
and if I can hear her, then
well she can hear me and
I
get a little worried
but as she emerges, just to chatter
about inconsequential things, I
sigh and give the woman some credit
and appreciate the deliberate silence for
I realize we both
(she, the mother,45 and I, the daughter,17)
must realize
the mutual value of secrets better left unspoken

either that or
she’s getting old and
hard of hearing.

Zoe Nyght

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/secrets-17/