For Rebecca

i will fill my belly

with the fortification

of the women who have gone before me

i will drink deeply the nourishment to sustain

through the travail i am privileged

to partake of

i will feel the warmth

of this strengthening broth

spreading down through the sinews

of my legs

and out to the tips of my toenails

i will feel it spreading upward

a pink and golden light

encircling my ribs

pumping through my heart

i will exhale it on my breath

it will surge upward to my head

roaring through my ears

like the pounding of a heartbeat

or the rush of blood
every hair follicle will be alive
with electrical importance

it will encode itself in my brain

reawakening the memories

of my sisters who have gone before me

bones and marrow and muscle will liquefy

in the intensity of the heat

they will be added to the broth

my sweat and tears will salt it

my voice will join the chorus

of female voices ringing down the mountain

~

a maid will lie down with Death

and rise up with the crown of creation

on her brow

Sorrow will be her companion

for only a short season

God will see her

a woman will give birth to a mother

~