SEED

i'd do it.
i'd take your seed
into my belly.
feel it grow.
hold your ear there on me
let you listen to the heartbeat.
lay your hand
where you could feel

feet and knees and elbows,
a head, a little bottom
moving there beneath my skin.
let you stand between my legs,
breathe with me and catch your son.
bring that little life
into the bed between us.
let him suckle
while our bodies joined again.

we'd teach him bird songs
outside the window,
show him how to see fish
in the shadows of the river.
we'd teach him every day
the actions of abiding love.

we'd hold seashells
to his ear
so he would learn
the meaning of life,
build sandcastles with him
to teach him to dream.
we'd run beside him through the woods
till he was strong enough to run alone.

© Joan Barton, 1999

Next...

Back to The Poems.