After Birth

by Elizabeth Ross

Overview

A poetic primer on mothering and motherhood, After Birth is unflinching in its celebration of new life. Proffering poems that are both alchemical and personal, Elizabeth Ross taps into the contradictions of creation — joy, distress, lassitude — all while her speaker tenderly hovers, like Nosferatu, over newborns. After Birth “blood[ies] the word,” and marks Elizabeth Ross as a writer to watch.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781989287149
Publisher:	Palimpsest Press
Publication date:	04/01/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	88
File size:	933 KB

About the Author

Elizabeth Ross is from Vancouver Island and now lives in Hamilton. Her first book of poetry is Kingdom (Palimpsest Press, 2015). Her poetry has been anthologized in Best of the Best Canadian Poetry (Tightrope Books, 2017) and published in literary magazines across Canada."

Read an Excerpt

DaguerreotypeShe asks for water six times,cries inside the silveredcrib-edges, duck-linedmirror reflectingour struggle in the moonlightthat persists through blackoutdrapes I couldn't afford.She needs to knowI'm with her. I lieon the carpet and holdher hand through the bars,stare into the cavity underher mattress. Togetherour breath slows, the dayblankets us: I could sleeplike the dead. Her grip loosensbut I can't tell if she'sasleep, rise from the carpetand peer down, Nosferatu.As a child I wokewith a ghost's face suspendedover mine, eyes curtainedin funeral parlour velourbehind which the tenor quavered -Feeding Iris StrawberriesI chopped them so she wouldn't choke.Tiny organs prepped for transplant,tumbled together in a smash-proof container. She stuck her fingers inand muddled the juice into her knuckleslike a lazy surgeon. I rubbed a wedgebetween her lips; her tongueunfurled from its anesthesiaof saliva. The tongue chewed, her teethghostly white. Possessed,she was strawberries, vocalcords lit in pulpy psalm.My fingertips - her lips - red!I felt then all her firsts - reflexto my breast, to bloodythe word, to stumble and then cry outat not falling, balancevaulted like a gothic arch. I felt the mouthof the personshe will one day lovefed strawberries.

Table of Contents

1.

One in a Series 13

Afterbirth 15

Two Weeks 17

Guest Appearance 18

Daguerreotype 20

Grocery Shopping 21

Weaning 22

2.

Body of Water 25

3.

Card Games 35

Fisher-Price Happy Apple 37

Feeding Iris Strawberries 39

Shush, Potatoes 40

Sewing Room 42

Sundays 43

Mammogram 44

The Pugs 45

Before Starbucks 47

Realtor.ca 49

Toronto Moms Group 50

Squirrels Are Taking Over 52

Birthday Cake 54

Spring 55

4.

Happily 59

5.

Hole in the Wall 69

Bedside Watch 71

Lice 74

Locarno Beach 76

Balloons 77

Visiting The Grandparents 78

Notes

Acknowledgments

Art Credit

About The Author