Redeliverance

by Bethany Lee

Female hands, infant feet

God, did you have to walk gingerly
after giving birth to me
Had you grown heavy with the weight
of my becoming
Groan with relief
as I came into the light
Did my emergence leave you bleeding
exhausted
ebullient
What nourishment do you offer me
from your own being
and what tenderness

And are you willing
to do it again

Bethany Lee, author of The Breath Between and Etude for Belonging from Fernwood Press, lives in Lafayette, OR, at the edge of the woods. Her writing is inspired by the space at the edge—her experiences as a hospice harpist, a year spent traveling at sea, and the deep silence of her Quaker practice.

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