Why I Wanted To Be A Mother

for my brother, D D

To be a wishing well

To throw dreams in a pot

To make dumpling soup

To sit in a wooden rocking chair

To kiss my son’s forehead

To watch him fall asleep (grinning toothless

as if grinning was his way of scolding the world)

To wince at his curl of great lashes

To call forth for him out of the dark -

the bold shimmer in each street light going on and off

To boil cerasee and sage

To wash cuts and bruises

To watch the body heal in days

To touch a chest and watch it heave

Then grow into lungs made for mountains

To bring about laughter out of the cave’s mouth

To walk on the path back to Acklins

To pass the hills of goats and sheep

To find a brave reflection at the water’s edge

To pour honey down a vase

To watch yellow elders sprout

To sing to every living thing until they no longer grey.

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Ernestia Frazier is currently an artist-in-residence at the Writer’s Institute of Diversity in Los Angeles, CA, working on various writing projects, including a collection of poems entitled Shallow Water. Her poems have been published in print and online publications, including The Caribbean Writer and tongues of the ocean.