Men must retire to the woods

to receive visions of God. Women

give birth & see His face,

feel Him push through.

The details of all nine births live in me,

cross-stitched to my lungs

& I can recall each one

as if they had happened this dawn.

But my dear Josephine, my fourth birth,

hers stands out amongst them all.

I knew she would be my first to live

to adulthood even before she was born.

Poor Windsor thought she was his,

but the speed & intensity of her birth confirmed

what I had surmised: she was the Prophet’s

just as much as she was mine.

I wanted to ask Emma if she, too,

had felt transformed by the tearing,

exorcised & cleansed by the pain,

if euphoria brought her closer

to God, to her husband as it had me.

But there are some conversations,

even amongst mothers,

best kept in the heart.

From Glossolalia (Anvil Press, 2013).

Used with permission of the publisher.

Order online or directly from www.anvilpress.com.