Motherbird

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An exotic silver-plumed

bird, underfeathered

and overfurrowed,

leaden eyes crow-footed

and hungry-taloned; ashen

her pallor when too deep is

the night. Pockets of velvet

moonshadow gather in her

thin, paling hollows.

~ Michelle Engel~

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The above is a poem I wrote during my graduate school years, about what I perceive to be my mother’s pain and anguish over her own childhood, and maybe some what if’s and might have been’s over the course her life has taken.

I sometimes wish I could go back in time and swap places with her, so I could be her mom and nurture her. But we do our best to uplift each other now, as we can, even if at times, our relationship is a complicated one.

Much love to you all! To all the moms in various guises, and the under-mothered, the bonus moms, the women who create a mutual support network with their friends that’s full of mom-energy and love.

My heart likewise goes out to anyone spending Mother’s Day grieving a loss, or a severed relationship.

“Motherbird” is a part of my collection Lunar Charms and Earthen Reflections. For the curious, it’s available on Amazon.