Her Friend Patience

My mother had a friend called Patience growing up
Patience was wise and steadfast
My mother was not
My mother met Patience shortly after the birth of her younger brother
And she showed my mother how to be kind to her new baby brother
Patience knew when to help out
Politeness and decent home training
That is what Patience was all about

My grandmother loved Patience
My mother noticed the adoration
Despised the comparison
Loathed the endless adulation
The bizarre deification
And after an embarrassing swimming lesson
She left her at the bus station
Decided Patience was better off an acquaintance

And that was the end of Patience
For a while
And in that while
There was a perfectly still child
And then my mother was sent to boarding school

The nuns were on patrol
With rulers, slippers and whips
In case the girls got out of control
Well the official line
Was to save their souls
My mother knew to survive the school
It was mandatory to be meek and modest,
And patience
So Patience