A Woman's fate (annotated)

A Woman's Fate (annotated)

To marry (after all, ninety something percent of the population does)
a man ( lesbian marriage is still frowned upon)
with a perfect ( she cannot help it either)
mother and (who now expects me to live up to her role)
to have kids (as most couples do)
maybe two or three (the average is 2.2)
but perhaps four ( as did my mother, and hers)
to love them (who could resist?)
to cook ( a way to show love to my husband)
to clean ( devotion to my family)
drive the kids to dance ( this country frowns on public transportation)
and football (the boys will refuse to heed my warnings).

Perhaps never to use ( so much here goes wasted)
any college degrees (should have taken Home Ec)
never to resume my ( I felt I wouldn't)
former hobbies ( I could sing, draw, write, and sculpt)
to have no wish (that's not in the job description)
for a career ( no room between 6 and midnight for a 9 to 5).

To push back (against collapse)
and hide my feelings (they'd intrude on the hugs and kisses)
only to break down (how long can I go on?)
sometime late at night (once they are fed, bathed, and tucked in)
and cover it up (they must not see)
with makeup (if I sink that low)
or pancakes ( a specieal treat for breakfast)
with maple syrup (to make it easier to swallow)

And after (this doesn't go on forever)
twenty or thirty years (as long as it takes to raise the breed)
to set them free ( one cannot hold on forever)
and to look back ( through suddenly aged eyes)
and see what my life ( it's now more than halfway gone)
has amounted to. (Nothing?)