Nobody Famous

By Christen E

This is a collection of over 100 poems that is a loving tribute to my mother, who died on November 25, 2016. It is also a historic monument to her life. A record or diary, if you like, of her as a parent and person recollected in a year of mourning. She was 81 when she died, in a coma induced by a hospital operation on her stomach, and was also physically weak due to 3 years of cancer. The cancer was discovered by accident a few months before her death. This was largely due to sibling neglect and this is addressed in some of the poems. This is also the story of her four sons, who incidentally revealed their true natures in the last years of my mother’s life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christen E
• Release date: Nov 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005195342

Christen E

I was the 14th son of a one-parent family of shepherds, largely supported by the pocketed springs of a mattress loved by geckos all over the Antarctic wilds of Borneo.

Book preview

And as her last days

Suddenly pounced upon her

A grim cloud of vultures

The innocent stage curtain

Of my mother’s life

Shivered in apprehension

A cape of irresistible distress

Enveloped her delicate frame

Skinny, undernourished, depressed

Unknowingly dying of cancer

(The refutation of all piousness)

My mother

Suffered more from neglect

A decade-long mantra of dissatisfaction

Desperation, abandonment and loneliness

Possessed her

And lest we forget

As a testimony of injustice

Her words I now recount:

I HAVE BEEN LEFT TO ROT!

ALECOS THAT SELFISH BASTARD

STAYS IN HIS ROOM ALL DAY!

PETROS PUT ME IN THIS HOMELESS HOME

IN BORING ENGLAND

I HATE THE BRITISH

PETROS DOESN’T CARE!

I HAVE NO ONE TO TALK TO

STARING AT THE CEILING FOR 18 HOURS A DAY

MY BOMBOLINA IS MY ANGEL

I RAISED 4 BOYS AND NOBODY CARES

I HELPED EVERYBODY IN MY LIFE

THEY HAVE ALL FORGOTTEN!

THAT PETROS GOES ON SO MANY HOLIDAYS

WITH HIS FAMILY

HE NEVER ASKS ME TO GO

ITS LIKE I AM NOT HIS FAMILY

HE HAS SO MUCH MONEY

HE SPOILS HIS KIDS ROTTEN

HE COMES ROUND FOR HALF AN HOUR A WEEK

GREETS ME, CHECKS THE BILLS AND LEAVES

THEY TOOK MY CAR!

I CAN’T GO ANYWHERE

THAT MONSTER ALECOS!

HE THINKS HE IS IT!

I TOOK CARE OF EVERYBODY

THANK GOD FOR MY DOG

MY DARLING DOG...

DENIAL

It doesn’t make sense

My mind cannot get around it

It’s like news from another dimension

My mother is gone?

But I spoke to her just 10 days ago!

No, I can’t believe it

How on earth

Is this possible?

What devil or god

Could allow this?

My mother dead

It cannot be.

TELEPHONE NUMBER

Yes, I have it still

Mother’s telephone number

It’s 0044 1322 613 169

She’s on my contacts list

But she is dead.

I can access the number

But I can’t access her

For the whole decade

That I have been

Calling her

My now departed mother

That was her number.

I called her

From several countries

If I call her now

Perhaps Alecos

Will answer

But I don’t want to talk to him

And his voice

Will remind me

That my mom is gone

She can no longer be reached

My beautiful priceless mother

Is no longer

In this world!

LAST WEEK

Today, I moved house

I lay on a new bed

I walked around the new apartment

I made a cup of tea

Last week my mother died…

Thu, my fiancé, is being so kind

She helps me with everything

I am so lucky to have her

We are slowly preparing to leave Vietnam

Last week my mother died…

I’m going swimming

To the usual place

The rooftop pool

Where I regularly do 8 laps

Last week my mother died…

It is the 29th of November

I’m nearing my 60th birthday

I’m far away in a foreign country

I haven’t had a holiday in years

Last week my mother died…

THE MINIMALIST

Petros

The accountant

Does the minimum necessary

Spending only what he has to

Complaining about the heating bills

Helping his mother is a simple