out of chaos a voice
greets you tender in the womb
as a mother does loving
already your ability to smile
the silver exchanged
is rain, vernix, coin, a quiver in time
for your unexpected arrival
before language and after language
there is light
in between there is this offering
of life
Photography by Rue Vėja Chaladauskaitė
Trippy. Utterly relatable. Moving AF. Every new mum should get a copy on prescription.
Llinos Jones
This collection not only exalts, is frightened for, and treasures new motherhood, but allows for its complexities and the terrible potential for loss, and especially I like how it doesn’t amputate mother-love from just the way we love as humans, sensuously and sometimes messily. It never slips into ‘saintly mother’ territory – it seems to recognise the burden that particular role has placed on women – for those who chose to have kids and those who didn’t.
Lynn Davidson
Published by Shearsman Books March 2022
from Origin by JL Williams
Cover Artwork by Anupa Gardner
JL Williams Poetry 