Don't forget the milk -
the way it filled you
at her slightest sound
and tender rivered to her
as she butted and nuzzled
like a calf at the udder.
Don't forget how every other
thought fell away until she lay
sleep sighing against you,
her tiny hand curled around your nipple
as you rocked little and long
to the sing-song of the oldest
prayers and incantations.
You were becoming,
and you were patient.
Don't forget the milk.
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Friday, November 30, 2012
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About Me
- Maude Lynn
- Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days. ---Flannery O'Connor
21 comments:
As one who nursed four, I can relate!
That's beautiful, MZ.
Wow: "tender rivered to her"
I wish I had felt that, and now I smile thinking of my niece-in-law nursing the brand new Abigail Rose! I am going to send her your poem which I feel like a river.
This is very tender.
Lovely lovely. Tender rivered and becoming. Terrific. K.
Someone is mourning the loss of a little girl... she is growing up quickly, your little girl. My baby just turned 5 and I'm starting to panic.
Tender and sweet - you do it quite well.
What a moving poem. I don't think I'll ever be finished nursing, so I can completely relate to the natural beauty captured in this piece. Boy did you turn the line "Don't forget the milk" on its head, moving from the opening to the closing. How clever!
It is all quite excellent, each tiny moment tenderly described ... but this goes beyond present moments; this is the shaping of identity: "You were becoming,
and you were patient." "Becoming is both an adjective for beautiful/attractive and a verb for turning into something new. And I can't help but think of "patient" as a noun as well as an adjective, as if the child is the doctor and you are being healed/nursed just as much as she is.
I read most of this as if it were a metaphor (a lover suckling) before it sunk in that you were really talking about nursing. This is touching, Kelli. Thank you.
loved it nice visuals and awesome flow and sound :-)
BTDT. I'd say that sums it up quite perfectly.
Beautifully expressed.
while i have never had the chance to feed a child thus, i know the relationship it creates...the emotion behind this can def be felt regardless
Impossible to describe unless you've experienced it, and even then... Thanks for reminding me today.
This transported me back to those days and that favorite experience of my life. What a gorgeous way you phrased it- tender rivered to her; the sing-song of the oldest prayers; You were becoming. It all rings so precisely true. It's a difficult experience to communicate but you do it so beautifully. Thank you.
It's amazing how the relationship long sustained between mother and child has to do with feeding. It's a fulfillment no less. Nicely MZ!
Hank
The most tender moment ever... thanks for bringing back not only the memories, but the feelings, too.
That nursing experience is no other ~ I have gone through 3 so I can relate to the becoming of the mother ~
Lovely MZ ~
Beautiful!
Sweet memories truly not to be forgotten. It is hard to imagine there will be other moments as quiet and beautiful.
Sorry I missed this. I would have gotten on (like I am now) and told you so. I liked this poem. It's very serene, almost spiritual. Very well done.
This calls up such tender memories of my babies decades past. I love the lines: you rocked little and long to the singsong. Wonderful capture of the nursing experience. Fine work as usual.
So totally sweet. I nursed my two and now my daughter is nursing little Mira. It was one of the best times in my life.
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