Silence (Ciúnas) by Biddy Jenkinson
Tranlated by Pádraigín Riggs
How I welcome you, little salmon
who leapt the womb, impatient to commence life.
I undertake to be a river to you
as you follow your course from the haven of
my belly to far distant seas.
Let yourself go, and drink up your fill.
Suck sleep from me. By the terms of the breast-contract
I'll suck back from your puckered lips
love, with which I'll suckle another time, and for that
I'm grateful.
How I welcome you, salmon of sleep
who made a tranquil pool in my life-stream.
In the rhythm of your heartbeat
I hear the music of the Heavens,
and it guides my way.
Born in 1949, Biddy Jenkinson (pen name) is an Irish poet and dramatist.
Rixa,
ReplyDeleteThis is truly beautiful. Motherhood is incredible. Birth is truly an amazing, empowering event. It was amazing to me to look at my beautiful babies, and know that everything they were made of had come from me. It made me want to take care of myself better than I ever had, because in so doing I was taking the best care of them.
Your blog is inspiring, and I am so excited to go and do it because of what you have written.
Thanks,
Kelley