earth mother continued, not yet finished!

22x22cm/9x9in



women
we are the child bearing vessels
they grow within our bodies, our bodies grow with them
even if we have not borne them, once placed in our arms, 
all we can do is nurture them
we feed, love, hate, love, feed, need them
we watch over them, care fear fight for them
we watch them crawl and bawl and walk and cry,
we see them grow and run, love, laugh, suffer,
win lose carry on and fail; lean on us and walk away
we catch glimpses of ourselves,
we see the world through their eyes
we watch, sometimes we must watch them die
woman
I am the child bearing vessel
this is my body, yet it belongs to them
for a short while they need feed love hate my body
crawl towards me, cry out for me, walk, laugh live with me
one day they have outgrown this body
I can no longer hide behind them
my body is mine once more
this empty vessel

who am I?

Comments

Anonymous said…
I almost gasped to see the baby curled up there ready to be born. So lovely... partly because of its contrast to the muted mother, partly because of what it is (he is?),... wonderful musing on birth.
Anonymous said…
I almost gasped to see the baby curled up there ready to be born. So lovely... partly because of its contrast to the muted mother, partly because of what it is (he is?),... wonderful musing on birth.
Marti said…
Who i am is the nurturer and when I become the empty vessel, then I will nurture myself: What a a powerful cloth Saskia: I sit here just absorbing; so tribal in its bearing, so universal in its theme of birth, so significant and your words, equally compelling, telling the story of woman...
she reminds me of how at one point
in time i wanted to be a midwife.
ok...i'm going to say it.
i like to avoid saying what i see
in other peoples work...
but it keeps coming.
under Her Right foot a butterfly
Her Left a chalice, maybe in
the shape too of an hourglass...
but a chalice, NOT an hourglass.
she is so more beautiful every day
i come back to visit her.
patricia said…
true to the bone
Saskia said…
finally I have time to answer your comments:
Dee: you gasped, that is a good sign, I did too (I'm amazed at times at what happens in/from my hands)
Marti: my thoughts about who I am shift a lot; yes, nurturing oneself is very important
Grace: please do share what you see, now I see the butterfy and chalice too and for me this adds another layer, something I wasn't aware of making it more interesting to me.
Patricia: having this gift of life is such an honour I feel

tungsten

tungsten

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