A memory as stark and bleak in black and
grey as if it was yesterday, my mother
and I went to the station to meet my
father returning from the office

I felt totally lost in an empty space with
ominous threats everywhere, a promise
of death and decay in the air, nowhere
safe, nowhere to go

My father carried an old tape-recorder; they
fought, she was angry, through all the years
the terrible darkness of that day remained
in my mind, ready to jump out

When an association unlocks the memory -
but that tape-recorder became a miracle in
our lives, we recorded favourite stories
to savour again and again

It is so strange that this miracle toy appeared
in such a terrible atmosphere, when I feel
lonely on a dark day, I can still replay that
day’s feeling of hopeless abandon

It must have been a reflection of my mother’s
fatigue and depression, I hope nobody else
ever feels that way again…

Margaret Alice

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/11-08-2009-memory-stark-and-bleak/