TOMORROW is Mother's Day and a chance to celebrate the love and devotion that mothers bring to family life.

But though the instinct to nourish and look after the young is deeply imprinted in the female psyche, are there sometimes clashes of loyalty for particularly gifted women?

DILEMMA OF THE CLEVER MUMS

Most mothers happily sublimate themselves

To serve their dear, domestic elves.

But what if other issues loom

Beyond the compass of the womb?

The goad of intellectual or artistic skill,

Demanding egocentric concentration to fulfil,

Sits ill at ease with selfless labours

And homely expectations and endeavours.

How sad, but maybe true,

The compromises gifted, driven, women make

Can at times bend them; even break.