A Lament of Abby

(Psalm 102)

Photo by MChe Lee on Unsplash

A prayer of an afflicted mom
when she is faint and pours out
her lament before the Lord
because her children are on summer break.

1  Hear my prayer, O Lord;
        let my cry for help come to you.
2  Do not hide your face from me
        when I am in distress.
       Turn your ear to me;
        when I call, answer me quickly.
3  For my freedom vanishes like smoke;
        my patience blows like a bursting volcano.
4  My heart is shell-shocked and withered like grass.
        I forget to take care of myself.
5  Because of the noise and filth of my children,
        I am reduced to hiding and putting in earbuds.
6  I am like a desert ostrich,
        an outrageously-large bird burying my head in the sand.
7  I long for sleep. I have become like an old lady
        longing for bed at 7 o'clock.
8  All day long my tweens debate me,
        those who see me as an obstacle to their hearts' desire
        use my name like a killjoy.
9  I eat their leftovers as my food
        and mingle my dishes with wearied tears.
10  Because of their great wrath,
        they embrace me one moment
        and then throw me aside the next.
11  My days are as long as the evening shadows.
        I wither away like grass.