from Jeannine Parvati Baker

Preface to I AM MOTHER - The Unfolding Lap

How could this maiden know that an answered call from my baby-to-be would generate changes so vast that pubertyʼs transformation would make sense?

Thirty six years ago I accepted the invitation from the Unknown into the world of mothering,. Now at the crisis of my mortality, I ponder -- what does being a mother mean to me?

At the tail end of a beastly winter, this is what came to me -- The Unfolding Lap.

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The Unfolding Lap

I AM MOTHER whose entitlement unlocks the doorless room
The home of a mystery that flays the soulʼs skin
Carving ego and rendering the oily mind into light.

I AM MOTHER who grows dreams in my belly
From my blood drinks the Tree of Life
Rooted in heaven until the birth quake
Splits me open in revelation and relief
And I awake from the nightmare of separation.

I AM MOTHER carrier of the secret told since the beginning
Hearth of the future, unfolding lap, volcanic breast
A daughter of uncertainty, the croneʼs executrix
The ultimate harvester of hope.

I AM MOTHER so hear me! Listen with labyrinthine ears
To the purpose of sound, sense the movement of your cells,
And the pulsing message from your bones that resonate with this;
Serve the Breath-Maker and be the BirthKeeper the Earth needs now.
Your mother will be so proud.

© Jeannine Parvati Baker
11 March 2005
Joseph, Utah

thanks to Jill for passing this along and always helping the veils vise, no matter the time of day of night.