Betty & Butch
Ode to Ovum
In the beginning I felt
I was her prisoner,
and I did not love her.
I did not even know her
in the womb darkness,
tiny as a pea, warm as
blood, blind yet dreaming
with the truth still lingering
within the formation of this fresh life;
hearing her heart beat, the
first music of this new landscape,
happy to suck her sustenance.
For a time I was liquid black,
at one with the void, blissful
in my solitude--but then in the
distance I heard the calling,
babble, then warble, then words;
come new one, little one, the
whole world awaits your arrival,
and the conundrum continued
as my mind began to uncloak;
was I a freedom fighter or just
a fast growing seed wanting to
burst the placenta petals wide
open and emerge, and merge,
and make my opening statement?
She, who had baked me, grown me,
kissed me with her own genes,
heard me, loved me, with one
great undulation threw open the
freedom doors and birthed me
into an instant carnival of sights,
sounds, lights, smells, shrieks,
machines, wires, pain, and the
first incredible inflation of my own
lungs, breath incarnate;
life.
My first image was her breast,
my first meal her milk, and those
nipples were my friends, and those
few months there in her arms
created my knowledge
of love, of women, of breasts.
This beautiful woman is
your mother the universe whispered,
this towering cascade of chestnut tresses
and eyes of snowbank sapphire,
your guide, your link to all of it;
and I grew tossle-haired, and limber,
and intelligent, with her there as
best friend, conversationalist,
maternal and imperfect, but the moment
I became accustomed to her presence
and role in my life, with the blush
of youth still evident in her eyes, we were
embraced by a dark visage; the withering,
the time of cancer blight--and I greeted
sadly those hollow cheeks, those glassy eyes
staring at nothing, with life flickering
like a red candle flame burned too near
its holder, once white hot and alive--
dead now, wisps of smoke
lingering after it.
Glenn Buttkus
September 2010
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Posted most recently over at dVerse Poets-#12 on Formforall
Posted over on Magpie Tales #31
Finding it as #21 on the challenge list.
24 comments:
What an incredibly lovely tribute to your mother, Glenn. I'm sure she is smiling with tender approval. I see shades of those beautiful genes, with which she kissed you, in her face.
A poignant, strong vignette of the beginning and ending of life.
Wow that reads so fast. I am still whirling at such a thoughtful "Ode to Ovum"
Subject: Ode to Ovum
I was completely bowled over by that gorgeous tribute to your mother. It was truly an honor to read. (You look so much like her, by the way, especially evident in your youthful FB avatar.) I'm thrilled you found Magpie Tales. Your contributions are fabulously inspiring. xx
Tess
what a loving tribute to your mother.
A glorious tribute to your mother. Beautifully written, deep, thoughtful and caring.
This is straight from and to the heart. Beautiful. Bisous, Love and Light, Sender
A wonderful and moving tribute....truly lovely :-)
Powerful, I liked it.
Bekki B.
wow. beginning to end a wonderful tribute to your mother...very nice magpie...
this is just the thing a mother loves to hear from her child.
I loved every word of this.
thank you and you beautiful mother for creating you.
Rene
I'm speechless
very powerful.
Judy
Heartbreaking because it mirrors my life.
Lovely, heartfelt tribute. Thanks for sharing it!
@ Glen: Ode to Ovum - this is a powerful poem, Glen, with some vivid and surprising imagery. I think it works very well, and it might be stronger for a little understatement here and there. I wasn't sure if stanza 2 was really necessary as it focuses on the foetus rather than the mother and the poem could work if you went directly to stanza 3. In the last stanza 'a withering' and 'cancer blight' work well as images, so maybe you don't need 'embraced by a dark visage' beforehand? And finally, a small thing, you could lose 'with' in the penultimate line to let the reader work with the image, i.e. 'dead now, wisps of smoke'.
Lynne
oh wow glenn...that's a beautiful ode to your mother, the getting to know her, the being fed and starting to trust and then having to say good bye...very moving...thank you
Superb Ode - one of the best mother tributes and celebration of the meaning of motherhood, I've ever read. It was made so intense and almost unbearable by the ending. An absolutely brilliant poem. I, too, am very moved! Thank you
Glenn- This beautiful ode to your mother touched me deeply. I love how it started while you were just a tiny pea and proceeded to the end with her passing. You're blessed to have had such a special mom.
this had some deep sentiments and was just full of incredible images.
your emotions are just blazing.
This poem has just about everything: it is powerful, moving, has an original perspective, is beautifully written, wonderfully crafted... I've run out of superlatives, but it deserves them all.
I love this line: "For a time I was liquid black"
~Shawna
(rosemarymint.wordpress.com)
This is really quite incredible. There are so many moving, powerful lines.
"I was her prisoner,
and I did not love her."
"womb darkness"
"and the conundrum continued
as my mind began to uncloak"
"burst the placenta petals wide
open and emerge, and merge,
and make my opening statement"
"kissed me with her own genes"
"your mother the universe whispered,
this towering cascade of chestnut"
"dead now, wisps of smoke
lingering after it"
Thank you for contributing this piece to the universe; you have moved me.
~Shawna
(rosemarymint.wordpress.com)
glenn...this is a lovely trib to your mom man...def imagine that this made her feel special...love your capture of the journey in learning her...
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