Lullaby of the Child for the Mother

The child who never lived was the real child
whose lovely eyes were seas
and little limbs were lullabies
and lovely seas

He said, my mother is a street
where strangers pass
her hair winds like the wind
round wooden poles

Her lovely eyes are seas
Her hair is wind that shakes the elder tree

He said, my mother is a stair
where strangers pass
and when night rocks me round
then I am sure

Her hair is wind that shakes the elder tree
her eyes are seas

Colleen Thibaudeau, 1967

“Lullaby of the Child for the Mother” can be found in My granddaughters are combing out their long hair (Coach House Press,1977) and also in The Artemisia Book (1991), available from Brick Books.

( ( ( 0 ) ) ) Listen to Sonja Gustafson perform the poem set to music by Oliver Whitehead.