Well, i don’t *really* know women like this, maybe its a bit judgemental too, but i like it further down so i thoguht i would put it here to recall it on bad days….
I know women
who would lose their children
like throwing off a robe,
unbraiding a red ribbon
and discarding it, to let
their wild self fly free.
I know women
who put aside their children
like cheap jewelry by the side of the bed.
I know women
who never seem to wear them at all.
My girls, I do not want
to be free of you.
You are like my wedding rings
which I could have easily slipped out of
but wear
every day that my heart beats.
I want you near me.
My girls, my husband,
when I see a sunset
I want these two eyes
to be part of the eight who see it.
I want our laughter and stories
to be so tangled
that our memories weave into one dream.
This is my time with you.
Soon enough, you will be off
swimming your own new seas.
Soon enough, we will step back and watch you
blooming and bursting in solitary ways
in your own fresh, separate skins.
How could I waste this?
Oh my darlings, you are not my cage.
You are my wings.
~Alicia Bayer
EDIT: – thinking about this on and off, which is i suppose why i put this here… i like this bit….
My girls, I do not want
to be free of you.
You are like my wedding rings
which I could have easily slipped out of
but wear
every day that my heart beats.
I want you near me.
My girls, my husband,
when I see a sunset
I want these two eyes
to be part of the eight who see it.
I want our laughter and stories
to be so tangled
that our memories weave into one dream.
This is my time with you.
Soon enough, you will be off
swimming your own new seas.
Soon enough, we will step back and watch you
blooming and bursting in solitary ways
in your own fresh, separate skins.
I think that bit embodies some of the stuff i’m feeling right now, but the rest doesn’t really.
