A Little Land
1. lately the rural has been responding to a call put out by my
husband
"I'd like a little land" he says "not that I'd know what to
do with it"
2. last night the midwives were at a birth
Baptists
I got the call at the office while on the other line talking about
strawberry picking
he said "who's this?" and I said "who's this?"
and he said "are the midwives there?" and I said "no but I'm on
the other line with one of them
is there a message?"
and he said
"um the message is the contractions are four minutes apart and
steady"
then the flurry of love and rush of a birth
at the birth the mom started singing hymns at 9.5 cm
lay my burden down lord
and the midwife sang harmony
3. my husband talked about the house that called to him at
men's group tonight
just him and Chris and John
(they meet at the midwives' office)
he rode his bike there in the dark
here is what the house has:
a soapstone sink
an old cook stove
a greenhouse
a guest cabin
exposed beams
2 acres
167 acres of preserved land
it's in an eco homeowner's association
6. funny thing to "teach childbirth" (which I teach):
the body knows what it knows
the mind a black fog a comic strip speech bubble
gets in the way of the divine pictorial
so I traded
"sit on the blow-up ball" &
"crayon-draw the labor you want"
for spinach, chard, a beautiful
head of bouncing lettuce with tiny slugs
& two dozen pale blue & brown eggs
three of them partially cracked
from the "expecting" couple who farm on Faerie Kingdom Road
1. lately the rural has been responding to a call put out by my
husband
"I'd like a little land" he says "not that I'd know what to
do with it"
2. last night the midwives were at a birth
Baptists
I got the call at the office while on the other line talking about
strawberry picking
he said "who's this?" and I said "who's this?"
and he said "are the midwives there?" and I said "no but I'm on
the other line with one of them
is there a message?"
and he said
"um the message is the contractions are four minutes apart and
steady"
then the flurry of love and rush of a birth
at the birth the mom started singing hymns at 9.5 cm
lay my burden down lord
and the midwife sang harmony
3. my husband talked about the house that called to him at
men's group tonight
just him and Chris and John
(they meet at the midwives' office)
he rode his bike there in the dark
here is what the house has:
a soapstone sink
an old cook stove
a greenhouse
a guest cabin
exposed beams
2 acres
167 acres of preserved land
it's in an eco homeowner's association
6. funny thing to "teach childbirth" (which I teach):
the body knows what it knows
the mind a black fog a comic strip speech bubble
gets in the way of the divine pictorial
so I traded
"sit on the blow-up ball" &
"crayon-draw the labor you want"
for spinach, chard, a beautiful
head of bouncing lettuce with tiny slugs
& two dozen pale blue & brown eggs
three of them partially cracked
from the "expecting" couple who farm on Faerie Kingdom Road
