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A poem for Red Twin

Arthur Davis, Friday, 16 March 2018

~

Waiting

Little ones murmur and squawk
We mung on Vietnamese rolls
The four women keep watch with their hands
Hold her with their eyes

There’s so much life in here

Her breath
Itchy head
Is she in pain?
No

Wiggles on the iPad
Rockabye a bear
One of the two year-olds stalks his own borderlands
Coming back from sleep

Comings and goings all of them
In this labour chamber

A nurse ducks her head in
Coffee?

Drifting in and out
Working her way out

There! She’s gone!”
I long to say
It would be exultant
And last night she was cross
She’d not yet been let go

But like all the others
This third birth
Comes in God’s good time

~

Image: ‘Transfigured’ by Randall Stoltzfus, 2008

Categories: Written by Arthur

Tagged as:

Arthur Davis

Arthur Davis is an Aussie living in Tanzania, writing at meetjesusatuni.com.

10 replies

  1. Praying for you all in the waiting. What a surreal time. Thanks for sharing a window into this precious yet surreal time. And the “Gone from My sight” poem you’ve linked to is stunning too.

  2. Stephanie has let us journey with her Arthur. Such a privilege it has been. You have allowed us to be there now in some small way. Amazing how you have captured these moments and the scene. Thank you.

  3. Bittersweet! Thankyou for sharing and praying for ongoing journey from here for your family.

  4. Awake here in the early hours of Thursday morning. I read this yet again probably for the 5th time. Such an eloquent and deeply moving reflection of what you are going through at this time. I wait with you in constant thought and heart and soul.

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