The Body as Poem
– Poem by Beth Kress –
A new mother
doesn’t need
words
to pray.
Her body
is a pulsing prayer
in motion.
If there’s
a part or fiber
of her body
not engaged
in nurturing
I don’t know of it.
Transformed
from the very first moment,
no longer
merely her own,
every cell is now
for giving:
womb
_____for sheltering
blood and bone marrow
_____for essence
breasts
_____for sustenance, solace
arms and hips
_____for carrying
hands
_____for tendering
heart
_____for swelling
_____to contain
_____more than
_____reason says
_____it can hold.
About the Author – Beth Kress
Beth Kress grew up in the Chicago area and graduated from Northwestern University. She raised her three children in mid-coast Maine before moving to the Boston area. After careers in teaching and counseling, she currently volunteers for the Project Literacy Program. She is keenly interested in community, deep connections, the natural world and global cultures. Her work has been published in the Snowy Egret, the Willow Review, Spotlight and the Avalon Literary Review.
Did you like this poem by Beth Kress? Then you might also like:
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Things I’ve Learned on the Road
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We grew up on fear and became heroes
Mud Season, Graceless & Violet Abandon
The damsel in distress was not for me
In the Blink of an Eye, Risk Taking, Afterfall
In Time I’ll Thank Shamon
The Space I Take
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