Little Red

Today this life is onerous, my body
Won't walk and my foot
Hurts badly. I am sad and
Alone in a top-floor flat of this
Sandstone city, all clouded and
Subdued.  It might rain, for
Over the rooftops the
Sky is black. I look back
And it pains me, the backward
Road, the way here to this
Friday afternoon. I am marooned
Here in the midst of my own life,
Not a wife, not a mother, just
Endless endeavour that
Took me too far. I am
Scarred by my  losses, the
Loved ones gone. Aged 40 and alone
I look out on a bleak passage
To come, my faint hope held
Tight in my hand, my fear
Held down.

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