Page 5 - 2021 July Listen - 15-3

NOCTURN

In the dark, middle of night,
in the deep middle
of the middle of life,

may you wake,
feeling the familiar fear,
and suddenly realize you are in the midst
of slowly, painfully,
giving birth,
and have, for years,
been in labor, losing, growing,

and may you mutter, “Midwife,”

in confusion turning to prayer,
begging the dark to help you,
and hear the poetry,
midwife, midlife,
midlife, midwife,

and be calmed by this,
letting Midlife do her work,

attending the birthing chamber
where who you were,

that too-tight, tight-skinned, tightly clothed,
tightly wound young woman,
has been opened out, spreading wide,
like a snake-skin, like a vulva,
from which is emerging
that wild, white haired,
loose and expansive,
grinning and playful old woman,
who must be your Soul.

LIZA HYATT is a poet whose books include Once, There
Was a Canal (Chatter House Press, 2017), The Mother Poems
(Chatter House Press, 2014), Under My Skin, (WordTech
Editions, 2012). Liza is an art therapist in Indianapolis. She
is currently a student in the Spiritual Guidance Training
Institute. You can contact her at [email protected].

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