Writings / Poetry: Amatoritsero Ede

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Mother and Child

(for Odia Ofeimun)

I

a foetus nestles in its watery hammock
tiny thumb plugged
into dreaming mouth

sleep-suckled

gently
a curious midwife
hand

plumbs
the throbbing womb
for warmth

mother moans   and heaves
expels
the sleepy newborn

who            spurned
brokes the water
that dams life

slip-drip-drops
through birth canal
into blood-wet waiting arms

full of succour

II

the newly exiled
exhales sharply
draws first breath

kicks at the dry iodine air
and bursts into mournful song

a poet is born.

hands secure the cry-baby
untie the umbilical bond

between mother and child

the womb that holds life
nurtures dreams
of a reunion

and the severed cord that binds
runs invisible
between natal mound

and the humped grave

6 Responses to “Writings / Poetry: Amatoritsero Ede”

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  1. Gift Amukoyo says:

    ‘Slip-drip-drops’ a very fine weave of imagery
    A sacred bond between mother and child, the birth of great destiny.
    ‘and the humped grave?

    • demosloft says:

      the humped grave… well the big belly in pregnancy resembles the hump of a grave… and the grave is the final destination of the child, of every child

  2. Chris Galvin says:

    Skillful word-weaving and metaphor. Chilling but true ending.

  3. Crystal Snoddon says:

    Actually, the phrasing I related most emotionally with was
    ‘the womb that holds life
    nurtures dreams
    of a reunion
    and the severed cord that binds
    runs invisible
    between natal mound
    and the humped grave’ .
    Evokes the feeling of physical abandonment with childbirth and the surreal connectedness that truly is lifelong. Thanks, Dr.Ede, beautifully crafted.

  4. cleopatra habila says:

    “The womb that holds life.
    nurtures dreams
    of a reunion”

    Very deep👍

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