Advent poem 3: Mary

Anthony Wilson, , , ,

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Mary

 

At first a fluttering
then a kick,
his fist pummelling my ribcage
when I knelt to pray.

They sent me away,
my belly burgeoning
shame on his name,
his eyes looking right through me.

Amazed, he took me back.
He muttered
he’d seen him too
but best not mention it in company.

I sang then,
hymning prophecies
that were poetry
inventing themselves on my tongue.

The riots and the cold
you know about.
The roadblocks.
That donkey.

Let me tell you
nothing prepares you
for that O
cracking your pelvis,

his fists flailing in air
as if from nowhere,
tarnished wings
of an angel.

They say I said nothing
but treasured these things in my heart.
Pain overruled my throat
and hasn’t stopped since.

None of us gives birth
in silence.
I was no one’s favourite girl
till this.

 

You can find more Christmas Poems here. Please feel free to use them, as long as you credit me as their author, and this website, anthonywilsonpoetry.com

Published by Anthony Wilson

I am a lecturer, poet and writing tutor. I work in teacher and medical education at the University of Exeter. My anthology Lifesaving Poems was published by Bloodaxe Books in 2015. In 2012 I published Riddance (Worple Press), a collection of poems, and Love for Now (Impress Books), a memoir, about my experience of cancer. The Wind and the Rain, my sixth collection of poems, is available now from Blue Diode Publishing. My current research project, funded by the Foyle Foundation, is Young Poets' Stories: https://youngpoetsstories.com/. This blog is archived by the British Library.

12 Comments

    1. You are very kind, and welcome! Thank you

      Good wishes

      Anthony Anthony Wilson

      Love for Now, my memoir of cancer, is availablehere

      Riddance, my new book of poems, is availablehere

      >________________________________

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