grandmother weaves a story
around her mother’s birth

ten score years ago
a little house
a darkened room
airless
mud walls absorb
and reflect
the screams
of a terrified young girl
beads of sweat soaking
the bedding leaving
dark patches
and finally the dai ma
arrives with her years
of experience
confident hands
coax the mother-to-be
to breathe and push
and push and breathe
and the slimy mother
of my grandmother
is born without
a whimper in her
Dai ma whispers
in an ancient tongue
ancient words of life
and holding the mother
of my grandmother
upside down
gives a gentle pat
on her back
and whispers there too
then she readies
the mother
to nurse the baby
once more she whispers
to the silent mother
of my grandmother
while the young mother
watches uncomprehending
one more back rub
a blowing into the mouth
and the mother
of my grandmother
gasps, then mewls
dawn breaks
the silence of the room