Guest Poet Autumn Rayne Presents The Hand That Feeds

The Hand That Feeds

I gave you life

Picked out a name

Forged you in the fire of my flame

My lifeblood, my namesake

You are meant to be who I have made

I fed you, I clothed you, 

I barely ever hit you

But still you take and take

Ingratitude in the blood of your veins

This life that I must live

A purgatory of your creation

You wretched child, spirit weak

You owe me all — lay it at my feet

Don’t you know I’ve sacrificed everything?

Ripped myself in two for you

You douse yourself in my blood

But don’t bother bowing at my feet

You whimper and weep — 

don’t know how you ended up so weak

You think your wounds belong to you?

Every scar I gave, you earned it too

You think you suffer?

You’re the weight around my neck

Stones sewed up in my stomach

so I’ll never stay afloat

The moment you drew breathe — 

 banshee wail

Marking the death of me

My hopes and dreams burned up 

to feed your endless hunger

Your gaping maw

Blade sharp milk teeth

Don’t you dare bite the hand that feeds

!!!

Autumn Rayne

I met Autumn Rayne sharing her wonderful poem on Tumblr and I immediately knew I wanted to share it here... There is a very important message in these few lines--one that needs to be widely circulated, so I hope you will share to your friends as well...

My Mother was a wonderful woman who worked 24/7 to take care of her four children as a widow. She had little time to spend with us in normal mother-child interaction, but we always could feel her love and concern... At the same time, I had read that children develop their personality about the age of 4... Here's what WebMd says:

Do parents influence child's personality development? Common knowledge, parents influence their children's development and personality. Whether we want to admit it or not, parents are a child's most influential role model. As parents, we spend more time with our children than any other adult. We model to our children our values, as well as our likes/dislikes.

Without belaboring statistics, I'd like you to stop and reread this poem, without reference as to who wrote the poem; that is, whether it is a parent or a child. You can decide that, I believe. So what did I and my siblings learn in those early years... We all became involved in a religion, we all became career/work individuals and were hard workers in the chosen fields... At the same time, there was little communication at a personal level, so we each faced somewhat of a solitary period of moving forward in who we were... My being the youngest, without any time with a father--my father was killed in an accident while My mother was pregnant--I became and still am to an extent, a loner and a blacksheep of the family as a whole. All other siblings married, for instance...

With that as my background in reading the poem, frankly I was horrified at what was shared through these words. I immediately felt great sympathy for the child of this individual, the mother who let it be clear that she really didn't want that child she had carried... If you disagree, do let me know in comments, because I'll be moving forward based upon this assumption...

But I did talk a little with the author to let her know what I planned to talk about and she indicated she agreed it was ok... So, very simply, long before the recent issue of Roe being overturned, I had learned through books, my own personal experiences, or by talking with my peers, that it was clear that, sometimes, a woman, or family, didn't deserve to have children... It did, and still doesn't make sense for it to be a law that all women must have children. In fact, knowing that many children are often abused, including physical abuse, incest, and rape, I felt that "choice" was the only opinion IF A LAW HAD TO EXIST... Normally I would say, as many do these days, it is indeed a personal medical issue, but given the fact that white men have been in power for far too many years, I agreed that, yes, a law had to exist. Let's face it, the parents are often the very ones who are committing these abuses against their own children...

But, it was not until I read this poem that I realized that I had ignored one of the worst types of abuses!

Oral communication by parents--mother and father to child!

Of course, the poem was dramatized, meaning that the words may not have been those actually stated by the parent. However, the overall tone of the drama that the child faced on an ongoing basis is very clear, don't you think? In fact, the poem is so well done that I wanted to reach out and hug the recipient of such abuse--yes, abuse! To me, my opinion could only be that she should never have been allowed to have a child... Yes, what is done to our children has always been a thorn in my heart that I needed to respond to, actively and publicly... Our children, indeed, even into their adult lives have been pinpointed for ownership and abuse, just because they gave birth to that child. There is no way to imply that these issues are to be ignored...

Further, let's be very specific. Across the world are millions of children dying due to hunger, being caught in war situations and killed, or left without any major educational opportunities... Further if they are different in some way, such as due to race, religion, or nationality, many are purposely targeted! Resulting in pedophilia, oral demeaning communication, even, now, selling children within human trafficking that never seems to be legally stopped... And our present administration has made it much, much worse! 

Since Roe was overturned, women are dying during childbirth, women are being kept alived for months while a child within her dead body is born... We have seen that this is not a racial issue--women of all races are being affected... The white men in the republican administration are denigrating women, such as me, for being single, without children, or worse, claiming that all women must bear children, even if the family can't afford even one or especially more children...

Obviously I could go on and on... But the majority of women across the world are already aware of the problems created by decisions made by those who have no real way to make their own decisions based upon reality, but, as some political tool to be manipulated...

I want to thank Autumn Rayne for allowing me to share her powerful words...  Finding music to explore this important problem was difficult... Instead, what I decided was to provide songs of encouragement, as, surely, Autumn has found in some way to get past the oral abuse she lived with, but was brave enough to speak out so eloquently at a later point in her life...

Finally, because it is Memorial Day, I want to use this closing to spotlight both the soldiers and innocent adults and children who had died and continue to die based upon authoritarian leaders who have only one concern--to have money and power over others... I spotlight the leader of Russia, the prime miniister of Israel, the loss of so many in Ukraine, the devastating hatred, retribution and power and money seeking of the president of the United States, whose first act was to take food away from starving children and let it rot rather than allow it to be used (USAID) as well as using OUR money $6M to send non-white men to a different country where they live like chickens in cages... as well as, all the children in America who are targeted for sexual exploitation  by those who should be helping them to grow and prosper...

Thank you, Autumn, for becoming a guest poet and, hopefully, allowing your courageous words to be heard or read across the world... You've made a big contribution to helping us move forward rather than backwards as many are trying to do...

God's Blessing to Those Hurting

Gabby

Hey Autumn, I've already picked out the next poem--My Ghosts and Me... Want to Share? Pretty Please... LOL

Find Autumn at

Tumblr @autumnrayyne (poetry communities)

(poetry)Instagram  @a.rayne_writes