“Mom” 
By Iris Eliya Cohen
Mom would wake up early and start rocking,
Changing,
Diapering,
Washing,
Cleaning,
Shampooing,
Drying,
Scrubbing,
Ironing,
Folding,
Baking,
Cooking,
Peeling,
Picking,
Steaming,
Boiling,
Salting,
Sweetening,
Sorting,
Picking the lice out of our hair,
Chopping,
Grilling,
And again cleaning, in between nursing.
Till we were two.
Go Up,
Go Down,
Hurry Up,
Walk,
Run,
Return,
Not resting a moment.
Wouldn’t sit,
On her legs all day.
Standing.
And even so, when people asked what my parents did I would say:
My dad is a contractor.
Mommy doesn’t work.