From Under the Air
When you weep
And grow weary
Of the pain
In this world you made
And tire of the weight
Of all who cry out
And gasp at the ways
That fear unsettles the souls
Uproots those planted in you
Tosses them to the winds in terror
Where do you take refuge?
Do you sink into the deepest pool?
Find your way along the rising thread
To the heat at the center
The swirling heart that binds us
All in place?
Do you let yourself be held
By the gravity?
Or do you find a home
Among the leaping ones?
The rays who bound
From sea to sky
The orca launching high
From under the air?
Yet even there is no escape from grief
Witness the mother who carried
Her lifeless calf
For seventeen days
And seventeen nights
A howling protest
Or proof of the strength
Of mothers who have the will
To carry loss
Far beyond a heart’s bearing
You, Mother of us all
How long have you been carrying us on your fin?
Do you, too, grow thin
Waiting for resurrection?
~Bethany Lee ©2019
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