Quotes From "Birth & What Came After: Poems On Motherhood" By Jessica Bates

1
One day his fingers will grow knobby, he will start to sag. I pray to the goddesses, the gods, the eggs, the clouds, the trees. I pray to the wind that he will grow old and die well. Jessica Bates
2
I try to feel my own edges in the low light. I send my mind to the outer edges of me – where do I end? I send myself to my innermost edges, and I see that in both directions  I am infinite. Jessica Bates
3
I respond to many names. Sometimes I am different people. Sometimes I am the me that howls in the night. Sometimes I am the sickening silence. I wear moonlight in my hair and bare my teeth. Jessica Bates