Body and Blood

Body and Blood

            for A.J.

In wedding white I lift laughing lips

to rain, dance my daughter across

grass green and lush and luminous

beneath grey skies and my heart cracks

with the weight of sorrow and

love.

In the shower blood

like rivers rages down my legs

till I stand in a sea of scarlet—

my own flesh and blood. Stooping

I gather him, cradle his tiny pink body

in my palm, gaze awed at arms, legs,

spine, dark spots for eyes, earbuds,

nostrils—all of him

smaller than the tip of my

thumb—and still the blood

flows.

Later we will wrap him in a cloth,

close him in a tiny tin, bury him

beneath the grass where we danced,

where rain and tears mingle with laughter

and my heart will crack

again. No one told me

how the heart breaks

and breaks and

keeps on breaking,

how love

is like death, only

stronger.

The exquisite featured image is from Julie Jablonski and used with her permission for Cultivating and The Cultivating Project. We are grateful and rejoice in celebrating her beautiful work.

K.C. Ireton

K. C. Ireton is a multi-published author of both fiction and nonfiction books, including The Circle of Seasons: Meeting God in the Church Year and A Yellow Wood and Other Stories. She and her daughter, Jane, co-host Lantern Hill, a podcast for people who love books, children, and God. Visit kcireton.com to learn more about her work and download the first two chapters of her most recent book. Or visit her on Substack at kcireton.substack.com, where she publishes stories and liturgies.

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