1. Child
do not dislodge the chrysalis
from the grey wooden fence/ it
is wrong to prod at it with
twigs/ i say to the others/
there is something sleeping/
protected inside/ it is wrong
to destroy its slumber chamber/
new moist wings will not emerge/
if you prod at it/ it will die
half living/ malformed/ it will
stink/ i am frightened for it/
fighting for it/ at this stage
the unborn will not be beautiful/
it will be dead movement/ but
the children were tired of the
waiting
2. Birth
so they held the chrysalis/ wedged
between fingers & thumb/ & cracked
it just a little bit/ & i heard
the split of heaven/ & the dreaming
dislodged/ & i felt the air get in/
inside several lost children/
darkened & fallen/ my skin turning
grey with guilt/ the fence/ the
naked judge/ i was separate from
them/ i began crawling/ could not
leave the scene walking/ the older
children turned to sludge/ my
vision moist from chrysalis crying/
& there was silence/ silence
thundering/ the weirdness of wrong
doing
3. Mother
i saw a dying chrysalis in the
vacant block next door/ & i saw
men prodding at it with sticks/
my childhood friends grown old/
& the chrysalis was a woman/
stirring from half-formed sleep/
beneath the crackle of skin/
she was weeping/ she was my
mother/ with me inside her/
a chrysalis bleeding darkly
maroon/ we oozed between the
legs of men/ sacred fluid
covering dirt/ i fear i have
witnessed my own birth/ yet
i do not pretend to save her/
within the death of her i am
breathing
