she keeps going
She keeps going, because she can.
Once upon a time, I imagined an experience of motherhood that was nothing like motherhood has actually been. Immersed in this space for many years now, I can say that in every season there has been something that points me back to the sacredness and sanctity here. Here, I have learned to be fully present and alive, without sacrificing myself or my own soul. In 2019, cancer was one of the experiences and events that supported this lesson and choice. Even world-wearied, these rays of light - that I have given birth to and get to raise - point me toward alignment... and life.
As summer break begins for my two teen children and I am invited back into the presence that sustains us through wild or heavy times, I leave you with one of the poems I have written about this life space.
Maybe it resonates.
she keeps going by J. Magnano
at seven am
she listens to bird song
and the gentle creak
of the first door
opened down the hall
into a new day
the sun peeks weakly
through two unshuttered windows
her body
anchored beneath the warmest
most thickly-woven sheets
declines to move
and yet,
aching with an aliveness
her bones groan a quiet yes -
the kind of agreement
birthed from a weary soul
still fantastically intent
on being shaped by
the earth