tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post1143917862438736703..comments2023-12-27T22:26:20.552-05:00Comments on synch-ro-ni-zing: Poem: A mother's breastsRuthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-80347555882569189952011-11-15T04:08:17.891-05:002011-11-15T04:08:17.891-05:00Oh, MJ! I love what you say! I did not know that F...Oh, <b>MJ</b>! I love what you say! I did not know that French bakers joke about that! Don and I do. :-) Don is the one who makes the bread, isn't it gorgeous? And one day I observed how like a woman's breast the dough is (or did he, I can't remember who observed it first). But the way it changes, and woman changes, we had not made that observation!<br /><br />Yes, what you experienced I did too. I asked my brother Nelson if he remembered if I was breastfed: he remembered, and no I wasn't. This hurts me too. Dr. Spock (?) and who knows who else were influencing women to see bottles as more sophisticated than suckling their babies. How very <i>peasant</i> it would be to give the baby the very best immunities she can get!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-57884088031792434332011-11-15T04:02:32.804-05:002011-11-15T04:02:32.804-05:00Thank you, erin, so much. Yes, I had tremendous mo...Thank you, <b>erin</b>, so much. Yes, I had tremendous moments. And so did you, I think. There is no perfect way, and Lesley and I talk much of this. It is something to want the best most perfect thing, but it just doesn't always go that way. When it doesn't, am I still enough? Is she? Oh yes, with all the love in her heart, and Brian in his heart (he can't breastfeed, is he enough?), they will be enough!<br /><br />I believe what you say about the just-born baby being clean and whole, and the unlearning begins, and we can't prevent it! We do the best we can, and he will be shaped in ways out of our control. Society is out of control! Yet you and I are learning to witness it from the inside, and try and control ourselves and our responses to it. This is all we can do. And hopefully, in this living, the little ones will see something to help them through it too.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-54114092684467815252011-11-15T03:57:13.976-05:002011-11-15T03:57:13.976-05:00Sweet Lesley! I hope breastfeeding will go smoothl...<b>Sweet Lesley</b>! I hope breastfeeding will go smoothly, but like the <i>Birthing from Within</i> article says, if it doesn't go the way you imagine, do the next best thing, supplement, whatever it takes to nourish your baby. It will be enough! You will be enough.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-33466956771520527782011-11-15T03:54:05.448-05:002011-11-15T03:54:05.448-05:00Oliag, thank you for everything!<b>Oliag</b>, thank you for everything!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-32596550959391659652011-11-15T03:53:22.812-05:002011-11-15T03:53:22.812-05:00Oh thank you, Elizabeth! I treasure how holistic m...Oh thank you, <b>Elizabeth</b>! I treasure how holistic my daughter is too! I am amazed actually, at what she understands. Such a blessing!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-78473096055481492052011-11-15T03:50:29.823-05:002011-11-15T03:50:29.823-05:00Louise! How remarkable! I must find out more ....
...<b>Louise</b>! How remarkable! I must find out more ....<br /><br />Thank you!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-46981720814324956832011-11-14T20:36:07.994-05:002011-11-14T20:36:07.994-05:00The loaf of bread pictured here is so wonderfully ...The loaf of bread pictured here is so wonderfully connected to a breast. I don't know why I never made that connection. French bakers joke a lot about how bread dough is like a woman--tight when young and looser as it ages (ferments).<br />I found out only recently that I wasn't breastfed. My sister found a lock of my baby hair along with my "formula" typed out on a card. I felt such resentment. "Nobody breastfed in those days" (late 50s early 60s) my older sister informed me. How much love from my mother did I miss? How much did she miss?<br />Thank god we've wised up!Miss Janehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13659603837343456631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-62939115515445703482011-11-14T20:31:22.082-05:002011-11-14T20:31:22.082-05:00To be enough. To be the bread of life.
jesus, ru...<i>To be enough. To be the bread of life.</i><br /><br />jesus, ruth, it travels up and down my arms. whoa. whoa. truly? i never had a moment like this. not fully like this. unfortunately neither of my children took to breast. what an absolutely divine moment (moments, momentS!) you have had! <br /><br />your poem wrecks me, not just for this, but for everything, for how we come and for what happens to us after.<br /><br />i just wrote to james the other day about the notion of being born clean and how it seems afterward we become dirty with what we learn (or unlearn - it is so complicated) and after this, only through conciousness, it is our life's work to try to become clean again. this baby at the breast is the cleanest human being alive. what joy. what perfection.<br /><br />thank you for such a beautiful poem. (hey, where's your audio? i laugh. i was going to listen.)<br /><br />xo<br />erinerinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16636371927224076866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-71043239197085782742011-11-14T20:19:53.678-05:002011-11-14T20:19:53.678-05:00such a special poem for such a special time in our...such a special poem for such a special time in our lives. i think so much about breastfeeding, i think it is one of the things i am looking forward to most about motherhood.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07370265740540830386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-14958964971570490482011-11-14T20:01:21.840-05:002011-11-14T20:01:21.840-05:00What a wonderful, bonding time in life you have so...What a wonderful, bonding time in life you have so perfectly and beautifully brought to words. I plan on sharing this poem with both my daughters...<br /><br />This really brought me right back to those days of holding my babies...when I was their bread of life.GailOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09556665956317683667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-54129220751688793402011-11-14T13:49:44.555-05:002011-11-14T13:49:44.555-05:00Dear Ruth
A lovely magic poem about the magic of ...Dear Ruth<br /><br />A lovely magic poem about the magic of breastfeeding!<br />Yes, a bond beyond bond with our little ones.....and their little ones too.....<br />don't know if there are many breast feeding poems out there<br />my daughter in law is wonderfully home-birth and wholistic<br /><br />gosh, I'd be sad if she wasn't.<br /><br />Thaks again for super duper poem.elizabethhttp://elizabethwix.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-20827666883932477102011-11-14T10:49:24.073-05:002011-11-14T10:49:24.073-05:00PS -- your poem is stunningly beautiful -- like yo...PS -- your poem is stunningly beautiful -- like you.Louise Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13522775693728655487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-51508128120753281202011-11-14T10:48:54.937-05:002011-11-14T10:48:54.937-05:00Ruth my friend, it is serendipity at work that you...Ruth my friend, it is serendipity at work that you should write of a mother's breasts as I begin a project about women's breasts.<br /><br />Serendipity and timely as I give birth to an idea on how to celebrate femininity through stories of our breasts...<br /><br />I'd love to tell you more!Louise Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13522775693728655487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-27581542583818921992011-11-14T08:40:53.568-05:002011-11-14T08:40:53.568-05:00Brendan, I so appreciate your embrace of my grandm...<b>Brendan</b>, I so appreciate your embrace of my grandmaternal poems. I begin to feel that all my life has led to this bliss. I hope I can translate this feeling into words as the days go on. I'll keep trying, so thanks a lot for the encouragement, which really does inspire me.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-80543562220779846522011-11-14T08:37:42.115-05:002011-11-14T08:37:42.115-05:00Stratoz, it's a strange thing. When I format p...<b>Stratoz</b>, it's a strange thing. When I format poems in the editor, I use the " tool and indent them until they line up as I like under the photo. In Google reader they turn into those stick thin columns. So thank you for following the bread of life to read in its fuller format.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-34291375412692146232011-11-14T08:36:07.007-05:002011-11-14T08:36:07.007-05:00Robert, thank you very much for your response, in ...<b>Robert</b>, thank you very much for your response, in its fullness.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-64339478049976353412011-11-14T08:34:48.996-05:002011-11-14T08:34:48.996-05:00Boots, you were there for and with me in these beg...<b>Boots</b>, you were there for and with me in these beginnings. I loved it.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-12606987912565737722011-11-14T08:34:00.770-05:002011-11-14T08:34:00.770-05:00Amy, I love your comment. You remind me of tales m...<b>Amy</b>, I love your comment. You remind me of tales my siblings told me of having to drink goat's milk because my father's parishioner brought it to the house. I don't think they ever had to milk them though! I think it would take some work to feel ecstasy in that udder-feeding experience, but it might be possible. :-)Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-47816752195288201672011-11-14T08:31:42.314-05:002011-11-14T08:31:42.314-05:00Reena, thank you for reading!<b>Reena</b>, thank you for reading!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-3474720102562068432011-11-14T08:28:32.761-05:002011-11-14T08:28:32.761-05:00ds, thank you so very much. Demeter is all around,...<b>ds</b>, thank you so very much. Demeter is all around, as is Persephone. Do you know? Yesterday at Lesley's second baby shower, the salad was chock full of pomegranate seeds!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-89672225568385987702011-11-14T08:26:52.715-05:002011-11-14T08:26:52.715-05:00Peter, thank you for your sensitive father-ness, a...<b>Peter</b>, thank you for your sensitive father-ness, and feeling this with me.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-71243528504560655592011-11-14T08:13:41.299-05:002011-11-14T08:13:41.299-05:00These grandmother-to-be reflections are a series o...These grandmother-to-be reflections are a series of highest magnitude, Ruth. What is it about the imaginal process of connecting with a daughter's pregnancy that reawakens so much memory and translates into such fine poetry. The images here are archly maternal, from the warm soak of the tub to the rejuvenation of the breasts to feed a daughter who is now preparing to pass that manna on. 'Tis perfect, Ruth. - BrendanBrendanhttp://blueoran.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-2922565544768112202011-11-14T07:50:16.648-05:002011-11-14T07:50:16.648-05:00Thanks, Mary Ellen, I'm happy for that!Thanks, <b>Mary Ellen</b>, I'm happy for that!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-51769718899296764762011-11-14T07:49:51.821-05:002011-11-14T07:49:51.821-05:00Barb, as another mother said to me after reading t...<b>Barb</b>, as another mother said to me after reading this poem, one who was unable to nurse her baby successfully for as long as she wanted, the feeling of maternity, of being enough, is something we can all feel (men included), if we are fortunate and aware.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-63628042288553841902011-11-14T07:48:00.080-05:002011-11-14T07:48:00.080-05:00Thanks so much, George. I have pondered what you s...Thanks so much, <b>George</b>. I have pondered what you said, appreciating it a lot. It is true that I am free of fear much of the time. In this instance, I felt an ocean of peace and joy, and I wanted to express it. But it's tricky, this topic of a woman's anatomy, given our cultural iconography. I needed to put it into words, and I'm grateful you felt it as you did.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.com