Friday, August 16, 2013

The Dynamics of Motherhood

After 15 months, I can say with authority that parenthood is not for the faint of heart. I can't count the number of times I have asked the question, "What have I done?" But thankfully, I inherited a mixture of courage and tenacity that keeps me going through the tough times. I now know that those people who talk of parenthood like it is some idyllic paradise are either editing, lying, or so sleep-deprived that their memory is on the blink. Parenthood is hard. It is no joke. It changes everything about your life. But there are moments that make all the tough times totally worth it. When I walk through the door and two kids fling their arms around my legs shouting, "Mommy's home! Mommy's home!" Or when a little girl snuggles in my arms. (Just a couple of examples). So needless to say, I have had good reason to neglect my blog. But hopefully, I am mastering the art of multi-tasking and can get back to posting regularly.

To summarize the last several months: presales for Fertility Rites were sufficient for a print run of 250. The chapbook came out in mid February and at the end of March, I had a release party at Purdy's Coffee Co in Richmond. I've not done much promotion since then, but on September 5th, I will be the featured reader at the open mic at Babylon Cafe on Main Street in Richmond. I will also be selling copies of my book at Skunk Fest in North Ridgeville, OH on September 7th. I'm hoping to line up other promotional events as well. I have not forgotten my commitment to devote blog posts to my good friends and fellow poets, Julie Hensley and Eric Sutherland. I owe both of them big time!

But for now, I will end with a poem about this new phase of my life, entitled, "Dynamics of Motherhood."

One shoulder an arm,
one elbow a hand.
My chest is an arm,
my chin a hand.

Equal parts rubber and iron,
each part of me
flexes, stretches, morphs,
and is renamed
to increase utility.

Me? Me? Who is she?

One minute a weightlifter
the next a downy bed,
a new dimension of capabilities
evolving into super-humanity.