If you stumble across this post, I’d like to encourage you to take a moment and breathe deeply, then slowly read these three poems about parenting that I wrote. They are short, but not meant to be skimmed. Take a moment and be present as you read them. Then carry that being-present-and-paying-attention-ness into the rest of your day.
You pray for a miracle and forget
how your hips turn out
just in time and your ribs
fan gently open
like doors letting the breeze in;
how your spine shifts
to keep you and the new life
in balance, walking, moving forward.
And your toes,
don’t forget the brilliance of their sprawl,
something so subtle giving
stability to your entire being.
His Limbs Grow Gold with Hair
Just now he tripped
over a toy, refused
my comfort, saying
“No, mommy, I can
do it. I can kiss
it all better.”
And he did
kiss his own arm
while pushing
me away.
Dear God
The sky is stunning tonight –
just the feast I need to appease
the desperation in me.
You already know this
and also this: I have been shocked
by motherhood –
how wide my heart has opened
as if to swallow every ocean,
not just the first few glittering fathoms
but even the translucent creatures
at unmeasurable depths
with skin unfamiliar to light.
