Hush my pretty baby lying in your pram <br />Listen to some words of wisdom from your Mam. <br />Because you are a girl-child folk will bill-and-coo <br />Tell you that you’re beautiful, a ‘little angel’ too. <br />Before you get big headed and think its your lucky day <br />I really have to tell you, there’s a price to pay. <br />Now love’s a little word that’s bandied round a lot. <br />But what a lot of meaning that tiny word has got. <br />When people say they love you, especially the men <br />What they’re really meaning is, they want you to love them. <br />You have to love completely and if you don’t you’re bad <br />‘Cos you’re the cause of other people being sad <br />Now there is one person, you mustn’t love too much <br />The person in the mirror labelled do-not-touch. <br />By the time you are a woman and you’ve learned your role in life; <br />To make those round you happy, to be a perfect wife <br />There’s a certain thing called anger that rears its head up high <br />It fills the void that too much giving leaves inside. <br />Like a smouldering chip pan you’ll suddenly explode <br />But will your loved ones calm those flames, I don’t think so, No, <br />They’ll point accusing fingers. You’ve broken all the rules. <br />You’ve rocked the boat, You’ve spilled the beans, Its true <br />When you’ve learned this painful lesson, you can start to grow. <br />Nurture yourself, love yourself. Very soon you’ll know <br />There’s another person who importantly exists <br />Who lives, who thinks, who feels, who needs, loving for herself.<br /><br />Janet Budd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/hush-19/
