by Ayah Sharkasi

Ouroborus

I am with child  

My belly is bulbous 

I carry this bulging creature in my body 

It extends and expands me 

But I do not drown under its weight 

The thing in me is incubating into 

Something that will transmute me 

I know that very soon 

This swelling will become unbearable 

The pressure of metamorphosis  

Will suffocate me 

And I will writhe, laboring in torment 

I will push and scream and 

Exert with all my spirit 

Suffering in fervor, 

I will birth something that has been 

Alchemizing within me 

This new being that was once 

Part of me and is now apart from me 

I will offer it to the dawn 

Bathe it in light and dark 

I’ll caress the babe and nurse it 

And just as my old skin begins to shed 

I’ll stuff it into my mouth and consume it 

It’s flesh and guts will become my own 

Then when this new form grows 

Aged and weak, I can once more repeat 

The process of birthing myself again