BIRTH STONE

"The older women wise and tell Anna
first time baby mother.
"hold a stone upon your head and follow
a straight line go home."

For like how Anna was working in the
field, grassweeder
right up till the appointed hour
that the baby was to come.

Right up till the appointed hour
when her clear heraldic water
broke free and washed her down.

Dry birth for you young mother;
the distance between the field and home
come in like the Gobi desert now.
But your first baby must born abed.

Put the woman stone on your head
and walk through no man's land
go home. When you walk, the stone
and not you yet, will bear down.

Lorna Goodison, from To Us, All Flowers Are Roses