Lost in Motherhood

For Day 25 of NaPoWriMo, this is the prompt I followed: "to write your own poem in which you use at least three metaphors for a single thing, include an exclamation, ruminate on the definition of a word, and come back in the closing line to the image or idea with which you opened the poem." 

Lost in Motherhood
By Candace Shultz

She lost herself in a pile of clothes,
Under dirty socks and wrinkled slacks.
Not lost in thought or deeply engrossed,
But lost as in no longer visible,
Unappreciated, unable to find her way
In a world that left her behind
When she chose to cherish
Her children instead of a career.

She lost herself slowly,
Like walking into a large city,
Taking twists and turns, 
Trying not to step on others' toes,
Walking in circles
Until getting turned around.
She can't remember where she started
Or where she should go.

She lost herself completely
As though she was hiking in the woods,
And she left the well-worn path
To take a detour in the trees
Until the branches entwined together,
Making a canopy of their leaves
So even the sun couldn't see her
As she made her way alone.

She lost herself in a pile of laundry,
In unending dishes, in dinners
And driving and school dances
And school assignments 
And wiping noses and singing songs
And breaking up disagreements
And hugs and kisses and sticky hands
And love. So much love! 
But who is she without her children?

She is on the side of the mountain
Trying to climb up to the top
To see herself with clarity,
To remember who she was,
To find out who she will be,
But she slips on a pair of dirty socks
And becomes buried by an avalanche,
Losing herself in a pile of clothes.