Darkest Of Days

In a gap in the downpours

I tie my child to my back

And disappear into the woods.

We follow the tracks

The sun edging further and further

Away.

She is heavier now,

A far cry

From the fragile baby

Of three years ago.

I, a woman

With a woman's body and burdens

With sorrow that has lined

My eyes and lips

And yet my heart feels

Younger and more tender than before.

We jump over rivers

To the dark felled trees

The forest, she is breathing

To the hymn of my longing

To disappear

Here we hide

From man and mask

And stand in the pouring rain

Dripping down our hair

Not quite lost yet.

My solemn girl

With my wide, hazel eyes

Clings on tightly

Peers over my shoulder

Into the darkest of days

Says stoutly,

"We can do it, mama"

- Jenny Wren

Affirmations

Preparing to see a client using these wonderful affirmations created by Hermione Wild Illustrations for use in my Awaken Your Birthing Goddess course.

As I am living the 24/7 Harry Potter lifestyle with my seven year old, I can't help but be reminded of the scene in book two where Tom Riddle laughs at Harry in the Chamber of Secrets. He mocks him, saying that Dumbledore has sent a battered old hat to face a basilisk. What Tom Riddle doesn't know is that Harry can pull the sword of Gryffindor out of the hat and slay the basilisk.

Sometimes I wonder if women think all I am sending them into birth with is some words on card, does it seem like enough to face their fears?

Affirmations are like a secret weapon, they are able to rewire your brain into trust and relaxation, they represent the love and the care you have put into your antenatal preparation, they change generations of programming and conditioning. We are surrounded by messages that tell us we can't do it, we are faulty, our bodies are broken.

Affirmations remind you of your truth and inner knowing. They represent your choice to go against the grain with courage. They are you changing the story for your daughters and granddaughters.

What a thing to pull out of a hat!

Chosen Woman

Woman,

Your body is not an "ill-informed DIY building"

It is a paradise of creation.

Your body is the perfect daughter

Of millions of years

Of grandmothers.

Your body was once worshipped

By your fathers and brothers

As the earth itself

As She who gives life and takes life away.

It begins and ends with you,

Keeper of the flame.

Woman,

When it comes to your body

There are no experts

Except you.

You who ebb and flow with the seasons

You whose blood forms bone

And muscle, and mind,

And who whispers to your babe

As they swim in the dark pool

Of your womb.

This soul who chose you

As their partner in earthly initiation.

What instrument made by

Man's hands

Could compare to you?

What book could impart

The secrets of your heart

To those in white coats?

All the sweet and beautiful ways

Your body can open

In love.

What, listen to those

Who would simply measure

What they can see

And never understand?

Their place is not in the seat

Of authority

When you hold all the power

Chosen woman

That seat is yours.

- Jenny Wren

Inspired by a post by a midwife about parents ignoring advice from "professionals".