Parturition Poem by Mary Champion

In the beginning you were inseparable.
In the beginning they were an intimate part of you -
like an extra limb-
entirely yours -
a physical union more complete
than anything you could remember.

When their time was due
they emerged into the outer world;
the fleshly links were severed.
but the knot had been tied -
they were still attached by primal bonds -
still shackled,
still dependent on you for their very survival.

Years passed and they moved away -
imperceptibly at first,
so that you still shared their joy and their pain,
still had the power to offer comfort, shelter,
sustenance and encouragement;
still able to shape their view of the world
and how they learned to deal with its vagaries.

Then, finally -
THE AMPUTATION!
Free at last!
Independent! -
No longer needing you for anything -
even advice.
Yet, like some phantom limb,
they remain to haunt you,
to sear your heart with their anguish.

But now you can only endure, in silence,
an agony whose cause you are not wholly privy to.
And you cannot sunder this bond
because there is nothing to connect you -
but your imperishable love.