The Title

So, I chose the title for this blog because I recently read this poem:

Woman to Child
by Judith Wright (b. 1915)

You who were darkness warmed my flesh
where out of darkness rose the seed.
Then all a world I made in me;
all the world you hear and see hung upon my dreaming blood.

There moved the multitudinous stars,
and coloured birds and fishes moved.
There swam the sliding continents.
All time lay rolled in me, and sense,
and love that knew not its beloved.

O node and focus of the world;
I hold you deep within that well
you shall escape and not escape-
that mirrors still your sleeping shape;
that nurtures still your crescent cell.

I wither and you break from me;
yet though you dance in living light
I am the earth, I am the root,
I am the stem that fed the fruit,
the link that joins you to the night.


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I am interested in the way that child bearing is both a universal as well as a consummately personal experience. You're both an archetype living something that is a core aspect of being human, while at the same time you feel like you are the first person who has ever done this. It's both personal and magical as well as public and common. Every direct female ancestor you've had has been through this experience, but at the same time, it's a unique experience for YOU, one that will change your life. It links us fundamentally to all life, and yet you are combining your genes with another person's to create a unique new life. I am fascinated by the duality that seems to be contained in the experience.