She grew up with no money
Her priority was to ensure I had more to start off with
Since we were both new to this,
we made the perfect partners
She knew little about parenting but a lot about hardship
I had just learnt to cry,
little did I know I should have saved the tears for our relationship
Side by side yet so far apart
My mother died the day I arrived
Her soul discarded but her body still animated,
A soulless vessel
She signed more pay cheques than birthday cards
Received more promotions than I had award ceremonies
Mother made sure we had a roof over our heads
Enough walls between us to separate us from one another and her zinc house upbringing
The silence echoed on the walls gracefully,
whenever her voice wasn’t bouncing around during business calls
Ever so often she remembered her roommate
and quickly reminded me
All she did was for me
After all, our longest conversations involved my school fees
I suppose being poor in love, was better than having no money