MOTHERHOOD
Our children tame us,
Bind us to our wiser selves.
As young girls we are boats,
Virgin sails unfurled
Ready to catch the slightest breeze,
And hop, skim o'er the waves,
Frail barks braving unknown seas.
On the way we fill our hulls;
Corals and moon snails,
Anemones and electric eels,
Inky snakes and flying fish,
Crimson crabs and laughing seals
Writhe and mate,
Spawning incandescent dreams.
We steer, our heads
in clouds, crowned with stars,
Guided by the ocean's song,
The call of migrating birds,
The ebb and flow
Of menstrual blood.
We mate,
With the sun, the rain,
With sharks and whales,
It matters not.We mate.
In our wombs life,
Pushes outwards
Straining against skin and flesh
We swell like the waxing moon.
We leave behind,
The sea surge, the keening winds,
And make for bays, creeks,
Rivers calm, shaded banks
We change our skiffs for barges.
We birth, we breathe,
We mend our nets,
We guard our young
Then, it's time to leave.
We scan the sky, taste the wind,
Set out at a steady space.
Our eyes keep straying to the hold
We have precious cargo there.
We want to bear them
Safe and sound
To the farthest shore.
Arunima Choudhury
