my mother said my birth
was easy
that I came into this world
in only a few hours

but I have been emerging
into this unearthing
slowly through all these years
of pain and exhilaration
of ecstasy and fear

learning to surrender
to the journey
pushed by the contractions
of adversity
and swimming toward
the light

greeting the voices
in the beyond
coming into focus

searching out the balance
in the ebb and flow
of ancestral whispers
come as electricity
through the cord
that cannot be cut

and I will be birthing
as the moon unwraps itself
until I birth again
back into celestial womb
beyond the curtain
of stardust
from which we're made

an ocean with a thirsty mouth
straining toward the shore
to be drawn back and gathered
once again
coming alive
with every breath and heartbeat
and the journey
of each earthly step