In Normandy, a Woman Births Joan of Arc

At delivery, a mother learns
the way the body is an ocean,
the way an ocean is a gift
to a people.

Oceans weave around land
& pool in hidden nooks,
are shaped by walls of sand
& faith.

At delivery, a mother learns
the way the body is an ocean,
the way an ocean is able to flow
wherever it must go.

Oceans see the worst of man:
war on water, war on sand
an endless tread over a body
at bay.

At delivery, a mother learns
the way the body is an ocean,
the way an ocean is pulled
by the moon.

Deification

She goes by many names & in each is a mother & in each a Persephone & a Demeter. There’s the theater of the earth with its soil soldiers who sit opposite the stars—seeds grow in the…