Dedicated to my three earnest littles, and to all the mamas, past, present and future.

Mama, Mother, Mummy, I am her, and she is me.

We shared a life, a body, a very first breath, they took theirs and I held mine.

Never did I know such ache, relief, and joy so absolute, so sublime.

Knit together in the quiet dark places within my delicate being,

The handiwork of the Father upon nose, fingers and cries that filled the room ringing.

Ordinary, messy, unselfish love brimming from such a tiny heart,

Made me believe in true, unconditional, love, from the start.

The love took shape, warm, familiar, and round.

A woman lost, a mother found.

I hear their cries, I know their need,

Born from within in me, I feel it when they bleed.

Dark snuggly mornings, closed in together tight all around,

Barefoot in those early hours, feels like holy ground.

I want to be with them always the thought without them makes me ache,

Staying close, face to face, with a call, or in that place between dreaming and awake.

Mama, Mother, Mummy, I am her, and she is me.

Words by: Rebecca Wilcoxson (earnest mom).