NEW BIRD by Dejah Beauchamp

I wrote "New Bird" shortly after my daughter, Sunrise, was stillborn at 40 weeks…

All the literature I read concerning grief used language such as "taken too soon" and "passed on" to describe the experience of death. I had a hard time reconciling these passive terms with my belief that my daughter had chosen her moment to leave the world. Even though I never got a chance to watch her grow, I felt I knew her: a girl who knew her own mind, a girl who took control of her destiny, unafraid.

My grief has changed over the past three years: sometimes sharp, sometimes blunt, always transforming into something I don't expect. My relationship with Sunrise (I say relationship because, even though she's not here, we are still bonded in that mother/daughter way) has changed too. For so long after her death I thought of her as "somewhere else," apart from me, unreachable, but now I know she is here with me, always my daughter, my muse.

New Bird

by Dejah Beauchamp

i am a new bird

all free-flight

higher than the earth

the sun flares

(golden, illuminate)

but can’t catch me

i fly

and i beat

my wings

against

the sky’s

embrace

and the stars

all winky-eyed

call to me

and i slip

through their fingers

they are so beautiful

their voices are clear

but i can hear the call

of one

who is higher

Dejah Beauchamp doesn't know the answer to anything, but she's perfectly content to wander aimlessly through life with the hope that she'll end up in the right place. She has written for Elephant Journal, Be You Media Group, and The Tattooed Buddha, and has had poetry published in Pilgrimage Magazine and Vine Leaves Literary Journal. She lives in New England, raising two sons and writing about all kinds of things on her blog, You can also connect with Dejah on Facebook, or Twitter.

~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~

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