POETRY | MOTHERHOOD | NOSTALGIA
The Dreaded Nest
The bittersweet fading of babyhood
Poised against a pine tree that rains needles over my cheeks, I dissolve into the murky dusk of my midday.
A little star sleeps in my bed, her tiny arms and legs and cherubic face melting my heart again.
Peace emanates as if from the wind that crosses the windowpanes of my flooding eyes.
The future holds out an empty nest to me — I see cracked eggshells abandoned forever.
My womb cringes for the little quakes it carried some eons ago.
I swallow a little dull pain, a white sheet of loneliness, a faded scrap of cradle cloth, a throbbing limb of a ragged doll.
I inhale a lifetime of love.
I exhale. She stirs.
I wait for her sweet "Ma..."
© Sana Rose 2020
From the collection ‘Songs of Motherhood’ Written on April 9th, 2016
A mother’s pains, aches, dreams and dreads also come in:
Sana Rose is an award-nominated novelist, poet, physician, counseling professional, freelance writer and mom. She is based out of Kerala, India. Her debut novel Sandcastles was shortlisted for ARL Literary Awards 2018 for Best Author soon after publication.






