Dear Mother Read online

  Long horizontal lines

  where you made room for

  yourself

  Breasts that filled

  And emptied

  Like the tide

  Now rest soft and weary

  But proud

  Having nourished you

  I want to dislike these folds

  Frown at the empty

  kangaroo pouch

  in which my joey’s heart

  fluttered for the first time

  But I can’t hate this body

  Because it was your home

  I don’t like being a mother

  any more than a plum tree likes

  bearing fruit every summer

  deep purple and crimson skinned

  spheres of juicy flesh

  Motherhood is woven

  like colored silk ribbons

  into the tapestry of my heart

  It is the scent of my

  neck and breath

  It is the sheen on my skin

  And my pulse thrums

  to its gentle rhythm

  I don’t like being a mother

  Motherhood is my being

  Think of yourself as a garden

  Your soul turned over like hard soil

  So that seeds of your wildest dreams can be planted

  watered by the rain

  of your tears

  as life picks at the weeds

  grabbing at the roots

  that which does not belong on your landscape

  the thoughts that were strangling you

  hindering your growth

  stealing your nourishment

  Then, after all of this toiling

  just when you begin to wonder

  if your seeds were rocks

  and your patch is destined to be barren forever

  an evergreen seedling sprouts

  hope

  If motherhood has taught me anything

  it’s that beauty transcends scars

  the ones that run like deep oceans

  across my abdomen and thighs

  it’s taught me true strength is soft

  a gentle word spoken at 3 a.m.

  as my blood boils

  and body screams with fatigue

  it’s taught me joy cannot be bought

  but is found in dandelion fields

  rain-soaked parks

  and unexpected kisses

  and for those lessons

  precious jewels

  I am grateful

  Labor never ends

  because every day

  I give birth to

  a truer version

  of myself

  dear mother,

  don’t care if you breastfeed or not

  what your baby’s diapers are made out of

  if your carpet is visible underneath all of those toys

  care about the woman inside of you

  the one who existed before

  the two lines on the stick

  don’t let her go

  ISBN-13: 9781488038587

  Dear Mother

  Copyright © 2019 by Bunmi Laditan

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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