Invocation for My Unborn
By Elana Bell
little bird little invisible
do you feel the pull of my
silent song
little bird little beating
heart I cup my hands
to make a world for you
come come little one
yes I call for you
out loud without shame
again I open to the tide
of tiny swimmers
and pray one reaches center
I've made my heart into a bowl
for you hungry teacher
little grower from between the worlds
I call you with all my breath
and muscle with this body
made to fill with you
I call you from my tunneled
center my millions of eggs
any of which could be you
call with my blood river
my throat & fat hands
with cooking spoon & iron pan
little one little bird
I feed with my mouth
particle grown from seed
treasure little mystery
little all the names
I do not know
little you I cannot find
in all my folds
little second heartbeat
I swear I hear
when I stand at the shore
little all the names I've named
you in my second tongue
& all your names mean light
little stranger greedy bee
your absent wings
tickle my womb
little rib formed
from my rib
little sexless fish in dark waters
little anchor
tossed from the wooden boat
of our loving
little poem
I do not have the words for
little incantation
come come
through the sea that knows your names
through black night with its stars for eyes
through the wind & all its directions
let it blow you home
Copyright Credit: Elana Bell, "Invocation for My Unborn" from Mother Country. Copyright © 2020 by Elana Bell. Reprinted by permission of BOA Editions, Ltd., www.boaeditions.org.
Source: Mother Country (BOA Editions, Ltd., www.boaeditions.org, 2020)