I hate her, she’s ugly
Inside and out
She says stupid things
Has no friends, they’re all out

Her face is too round
Her hair is so mousy
Can’t do her makeup
She always looks lousy

She’s a horrible mom
Her house is a mess
Her husband wants out
She never says yes

She forgets half the groceries
The list on the fridge
She can’t find her keys and
just leaves the garbage

Her kids have too much screen time
They’re always unclean
They rarely listen
They all swear she’s SO mean

At work she’s just coasting
The job is just work
She gives all her effort
But they think she’s a jerk

She forgets what she’s saying
On the phone with her friends
She barely listens
She prays it all ends

I hate her, she’s ugly
She’s cold and devout
Watch it, don’t cross her
Her horns will come out

Then one day I saw her
Drop a plate made of glass
The kids were all screaming
The tv on blast

The room filled with chaos
With her at the wheel
A tear slid down her cheek
And she let herself feel

the babies ran in
With all eyes on mama
They hugged her so tightly
She forgot all her drama

And in that moment,
I saw her much clearer
Tears flowed down my cheeks
While I stared in the mirror

I looked in our eyes
At our too-round pale face
Tucked up my mouse hair
And I scrubbed off my face

She wasn’t the worst
Maybe flawed, but not bad
The weight of her jobs just
almost broke her back

So I gave her some grace
She was doing the best that she could
She wasn’t a monster
I just misunderstood