I cut you
from my thighs and birth
you like I was from the lips
of the shell in which I stand,
swaddle you in love and tie
you tight in ropes
of freedom, use locks
of hair to wash your face
and dry your tears away
before I offer you
to the gods from whom you came,
all sparkly bright like
the light you are I
return you to finally claim
that part that’s you in me,
a treasured pearl hatched
around a grain of pain. For eons
it scratched until last year’s labors
forced it smooth
like a rainbow bead.