ABSTRACT
The Damned This woman sat in her home every day She wanted to go out She wanted many things But she was denied them So she promised the world to her daughter But she would never let her go out because she was lonely Night after night the mother cried in her bed But every morning she came down the stairs with her husband’s smile on her face One morning her daughter asked her why she smiled I hear you crying in your sleep every night The mother cracked and exploded like a dam unable to bear the strain of her suffering Her daughter got caught up in the flood and thought she’d broken her mother So she hid the tears under her bed in case someone accused her Now some years later the mother found her crying in her room Go to the priest, she said, and he’ll build you a dam And he did! And the tears went away! But every time the dam broke she had to go back to him And her daughters and their daughters did the same And they all dreamed of the time when they’d no longer need a dam Until one day one of her great great grandchildren playing with tears she’d found under her bed was scolded for crying without cause So she went up to the priest who was now very old and asked Father, see these tears who owns the river the dam’s holding The old priest was shocked at the question Sure it’s a mystery All I have is the design And she spat in his face and tore up the design and flowed away to be free Threshold Derry, 1992
