WHO BEGAT THE EARTH?
Who begat the earth? I did.
I grew it three times in my belly.
That isn’t true. It is.
It’s a metaphor. I made three lives.
Who begat the earth? Not me.
None of this is my fault.
Who begat the hours that squeeze out like a paste?
God. What does he look like? Nobody knows.
He lives in a city. Nobody knows how to get there anymore.
Who begat the bean vine growing like a slow thought around the trellis?
The earth. We inherited it, a palace a mansion a city a forest a ship of treasures we’re sinking inside.
EMILY BLUDWORTH DE BARRIOS is the author of Splendor, a book of poems. She’s also published two chapbooks: Women, Money, Children, Ghosts, from Sixth Finch, and Extraordinary Power, from Factory Hollow Press. Her poems have appeared in publications such as jubilat, The Harvard Review, and The Poetry Review. Born in Houston and raised in Egypt, the United States, and Venezuela, she currently lives with her husband and three children in Houston. Her website is www.emilybludworthdebarrios.com.
Read more by Emily Bludworth de Barrios:
Read all Emily Bludworth de Barrios’ poems in B O D Y
Poem in Sixth Finch
Poem in Tender
Poem in the Harvard Review