Matrescence
by Anna D.
First one ripped right through me.
Tore through my identity,
Made a wound of me.
Giant gash
Going top to soul
I bled out slow.
Bleeding out
All that made me up of who I was…
Dancing, singing,
Tunes and sessions
Positivity and passions,
Connection to a higher power
And
All those colours
Just,
Sucked
Out of me.
Left but a puddle,
Muddy, murky, milky.
Spilling through the day
Every shade of white turned grey,
Just blending into the
Matted spot on the rug
Beneath my feet,
As I sat
Cradling her
And a cup of stale tea, staring at tv,
Vulnerable as she
But –
No one’s cradling me.
I turned stone cold.
Couldn’t ask for help
Couldn’t be that bold,
No desire to sing now
No stories told,
No songs or visions did unfold
No opening,
Or connecting,
To anything
- But this perfect thing -
That I had to be perfect for.
No less,
*baby roars*
Shhh! No more,
And then perfection the ruination of me
Running ruined on zero sleep,
Longing for warmth
But wouldn’t let him touch me,
So cut off –
Yet so in need.
And he so isolated too
In need of Zzzz’s
Catching so few
Getting no empathy from you,
What else could happen?
Attack to defend,
New game that won’t end-
Call of Duty: Emotional Warfare
Parental despair,
“I thought we did prepare?!”
“I don’t remember any of this in the fuckin’ antenatals do you?!”
“Yeah, right ye do.”
I’m glad I hit a wall
Instead of him,
But now the swelling and the broken skin
It shows the world –
I’m struggling.
Just for them to respond;
“Aah but it’s all worth it though!”
Eh, yeah…
I know…
Sweet, mandated joy
For sweet girl or boy,
“None of that bitter, raw and realness, pleasey!”
“You’re making us feel uneasy!”
“Birth story making us queasy!”
“Save that for your partner, yeah?”
Hard to know where to start there.
And yet, we sorted it out,
By some grace from above,
Couples counselling,
Couple nights of love,
But took a couple of years,
And doin’ a couple of yokes,
For me to see that bloke
As who he was again though.
So, don’t you be afraid
If it’s super slow,
For all your shit to go
Back into place,
You are not a failure,
Your love is not a disgrace,
You’re just becoming “parents”.
And society didn’t set you up well for it,
Left adrift,
Emotionally unsupported
Financial debts’ door
It can be;
SUFFOCATING.
Insta-pressure sticks there,
Then there’s work and childcare,
Unsolicited comments that make you feel shit
Just because you’re not doing it how they did it,
But look,
You live and you learn,
Though you’re broken to bits,
And those cuddles and loves drag you back from the pits,
You’ve a fuck-tonne of worries,
A shit-tonne of to-do’s,
All the while trying to claw back
Those pieces of you,
But
That wound…
It’s gonna heal Mama,
‘Cause your strength is unreal Mama,
So,
Set clear boundaries,
And rest,
And don’t sell yourself short,
But if you’re not yourself
Please get some support,
You will never be the same again,
Not truly,
But you will piece back together like a
Work of kintsugi,
Until one day,
Not so grey,
As you notice –
The colour…
Has gradually…
Seeped…
Back
In.
Anna D is a spoken word poet from Dublin. She has won multiple slams and competitions including the All-Ireland Poetry Slam and she has competed and performed her work internationally at the European Poetry Slam in Slovakia and Ideogramma International Poetry Slam in Cyprus. Anna’s work was published in two spoken word poetry anthologies released in the past year. She won two awards to develop her debut spoken word collection into a multi-media stage show called ‘Roots in Every Room’, which premiered and had a sold out run at Dublin Fringe Festival September, 2025.
Anna is a mother, a teacher and a dramatherapist. She has an interest in the interplay between emotions and patterns of behaviour, family and collective trauma and the impact of oppressive systems on how we relate to each other and the world today. Her poems are raw, honest and relatable portrayals of her experience of the human condition in all its grime and glory.
