North American Motherhood: POEMS
North American Motherhood
Endless washing, cleaning, resupplying,
sterilizing, worrying, reading up on,
not reading,
caring for, compromising, fantasizing,
obsessing over the pancake flattening of breasts,
inspecting, not inspecting, worrying about
not inspecting,
reveling, loving, rekindling,
doting, not doting, worrying about
not doting,
drinking—wine, water, spirits,
water, beer—not drinking,
drinking again, worrying about drinking,
worrying about writing
about drinking,
drinking water, drinking more water,
taking vitamins, not taking vitamins,
worrying about not taking vitamins,
taking vitamins again,
writing, not writing, enjoying,
enjoying, enjoying popsicle,
after popsicle after popsicle after
popsicle.
Dear Ones
I am an empty stomach
I am the beauty that fades
I am bad vision
I am armed, thin-wristed, love-handled
I am Ma I
am a palindrome
I eat the blues and the berries
I’ve been guilty of self-neglect
I put words on paper
I’ve been accused
of putting words in mouths
I’ve had it out with the truth
I’ve been shaken and stirred
I am the person to be reckoned with
I am the righteous anger that will save you
I am short-nailed and long-toed
I am ravenous
I am no man’s mother
I am full of carbon dioxide
I am the absence that watches over you
I am always for you
About the Author
Jamie Asaye FitzGerald is a Los Angeles-based poet from Hawaii and mother of two. Her poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Works & Days, Mom Egg Review, and elsewhere. She can be found at www.jamiefitz.com or on her IG haiku page @jamiefitzwrites.
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