In the Spirit of Homebirth by Bronwyn Preece

Author:Bronwyn Preece
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: birth, Canada, British Columbia, homebirth, midwifery, doula, water birth, birth stories, poetry, memoir, personal, family, babies, childbirth, revolution, biology, First Nations, alternative, alternative health, choice, medicine, holistic, labor, LGBTQ, mother, midwives, partners
Publisher: Seven Stories Press

ELIJAH IN A WHIRLWIND

by Daya Clay Moss

A poem written for Elijah after his passing

How I love you, Elijah in a whirlwind

Elijah, little bear claw

Coming sideways and leaving too soon.

Little moth with powdered wings,

Iridescent and singed at the tips,

Sitting on someone else’s sleeve.

Everything was too tight—

We could not make enough room for you to move.

What can I say to you,

Elijah-whirlwind?

It seems your past is wiped clean.

Nothing occurred.

Not the yellow truck over pothole roads,

Not the trailer in the bright yard of laundry,

Not the house with the winding garden path,

Not any of the houses,

Or any of the people who lived in them.

The machines have all stopped, Elijah.

We say we are happy but we are not.

We have too much time on our hands.

You have tried to teach us that some things must come to an end—

But we will not listen, Elijah.

If I could see you now,

You would be naked at the very top of the monkey bars, a dagger drawn.

You would make a small cut and yell And offer to be a blood brother.

All the animals would come down to be witnesses,

The plants would offer themselves as sacrament.

You came and pressed yourself hard against things, my son.

And the prints you left are like a trail of teeth And a map

Of what is soft enough to be eaten.

Daya is a counselor at a school for pregnant and parenting teen girls.

She lives in Victoria with her partner of fifteen years, two sons, and

their ancient cat. She loves to read, garden, hike, cook fantastic vegetarian

meals, and sometimes make art and dance like crazy.

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