Greener Grass
Thushanthi Ponweera
Sunlight streams through the woodwork
creating a pattern on the mosquito net.
Although it is morning outside,
I’m not sure of the time.
Starfish-like on the bed
I listen for the sounds of my offspring.
Have they eaten?
What are they doing?
I hear one of them whine
and am thankful that it quickly fades away.
Glad that they are behaving themselves.
Nostalgia visits me often
in the shape of solitary days
spent in bed
surrounded by books and a perched laptop
screening sitcoms—
Those days, I knew what time it was
and I didn’t have to wonder
what was happening beyond my room door.
I could have that right now.
The kindle on my bedside watches me
scrolling social media,
trying to lie to myself that it’s not time
to be up yet
that my children don’t need me
that I have
nothing more important to do than
making myself
happy.
Thushanthi Ponweera is a writer from sunny Sri Lanka. Her identities as a wife, mother and creator are constantly vying for the main role, and she is constantly trying to satisfy them all. @thushponweera