Birth

water, water,
flesh-cord feeding
taut bundle
of woman's belly.

the brow of the child
is first to form,
while gills still
pulse in the jostled quiet.

the strong sleep
before birth hypnotizes
until shock of tongs and thrusting thighs
obliterates

the song of falling haze,
blue-red
veins, translucent
skin,

breath, heartbeat
and hunger.
tears and a sometimes
return to the quiet

stars in their cool
pond, bright blankness.
the depth
and the old remembering.

the wave
without the water.

-- Berkeley, California, 1966

[Found in an old notebook]

Posted by gerardvanderleun at October 14, 2012 2:12 AM