The Noise Behind My Smile

If you’d caught me mid-thought today…

If you'd caught me mid-thought today,
you would’ve heard the quiet chant: keep going, the week’s almost over.
The faint scream: this is the life you asked for.
The nagging to-do list echoes:
start the business, send the pitch, did you check the emails?
Don’t forget the estimates. The quotes. The follow-ups.

Then comes the hum of survival,
breathe. did you eat? drink water? unclench your jaw.

And in the middle of it all…
a whisper.. Your safe, your seen, your loved
because if Im being honest for years I didn’t feel like I was.

Motherhood thoughts bleed in:
did they make the bus?
Did I sign the form?
Did they eat lunch?

It’s loud in here.
But I smile anyway.