A Poem by Cheryl Moskowitz

Motherhood is Dirt

C’est toute la salité
all cover up, fumbling in the dark
Mais quel sol!
This is how the worm turns
this is how the pearl forms —
Never just the sand and grit
never just the rip and split.
Some parasitic force instead
come to burrow in her bed.
Mon dieu!
C’est la plantation
d’une intrusion.
Et voila, cette chose
it grows and grows.
Come see, come see!
La pousse grandit.
It grows and shows
who knows, who knows…
Maintenant, c’est quoi?
Certainment, c’est la voie
de maternité.
It’s all dirt, cover up
but oh, what soil will impede
the planting of that little seed.

Cheryl Moskowitz is a US-born writer and educator with a special interest in theatre and psychoanalysis. She is an editor at Magma Poetry and co-founder of the All Saints Sessions www.allsaintssessions.uk, an innovative poetry and electronics performance series.