We love to share poetry on New Beginnings from time to time. This week, we’re sharing two contributions from poets who have written for New Beginnings in the past. We hope you’ll enjoy these new poems.
Dear Tender Heart
By Gwendolyn B.
Dear tender heart (rose otto and lavender)
Six Augusts in a row you with a nursling at your breast
This summer you anoint the breasts as well as the heart space
Firstborn with a wiggly tooth asked this morning to rest with crystals and stone on each chakra
Both children scavenged the new moon fire pit for perfect charcoal chunks
And adorned rocks and bricks with patterns and lines
They discerned the difference between a splosh and a kerplosh
In new rain boots along the puddled road adjacent
To the house where blacksnakes, bats, chimney swifts, and skinks join fireflies and deer
In a wheel of life and living that buzzes, surprises, keeps you all on your toes
Your toes that sink into the soil you built, in a frame he built with his brother
Your partner, who builds mostly with code in the digital world
A layer of existence your inner child cannot comprehend
She would understand the garden
The swings between the apple trees
The purple tulip bulbs in the paper bag to plant in fall to bloom next spring
The stack of catalogs for further bulbs to join the symphony of appreciation on this land
Playing across time with instruments and musicians unknown – how many generations?
The feeling rising inside that says flee
But the softening, too, that says see beauty here, make beauty here
Anoint / nurse / wiggle / adorn / discern / kerplosh / buzz / sink / comprehend / plant / bloom
Editor’s note: Gwen has submitted many beautiful poems to New Beginnings recently. If you’ve missed them, you can check out her poem Matilde here and Yet and Ever here.
Mothers’ Milk
By Erin O.
It’s Mom’s Secret Recipe
Oh, so Fine
Specially Formulated
Every Time
It’s a Feat of Biology
Nature’s Art
A Womanly Superpower
From the Heart
This Potent Elixir
Of Liquid Might
Nourishes and Protects
It’s so Right
This Corporeal Effusion
Of Good Health
Endows Our Children
With a Wealth of Health
Nourish with Your Milk
And by Your Breast
It’s as Strong as Silk
Endures all Test
This Wholesome Brew
From Mother to Child
Through Ages and Cultures
Tames our Wild
Hundreds of Ingredients
Known to Be
For each, it is Customized
All for Free
Even Through Turmoil
Trouble or Strife
Breast is the Best
For a Good Life
This Gift Everlasting
Is a Liquid Glue
Bringing and Bonding
Me to You
If you’d like to share your own reflections and experiences from parenthood and breastfeeding, we’d love to hear them. Please send your stories to Kylie at [email protected]
Supporting Breastfeeding Families–Today, Tomorrow, Always
Please consider donating to La Leche League USA.
Your gift helps support this blog and the website!
Donations of any amount are gratefully accepted. Thank you!
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Posted: July 8, 2025 by Yael Breimer
Poetry from Parenthood
We love to share poetry on New Beginnings from time to time. This week, we’re sharing two contributions from poets who have written for New Beginnings in the past. We hope you’ll enjoy these new poems.
By Gwendolyn B.
Dear tender heart (rose otto and lavender)
Six Augusts in a row you with a nursling at your breast
This summer you anoint the breasts as well as the heart space
Firstborn with a wiggly tooth asked this morning to rest with crystals and stone on each chakra
Both children scavenged the new moon fire pit for perfect charcoal chunks
And adorned rocks and bricks with patterns and lines
They discerned the difference between a splosh and a kerplosh
In new rain boots along the puddled road adjacent
To the house where blacksnakes, bats, chimney swifts, and skinks join fireflies and deer
In a wheel of life and living that buzzes, surprises, keeps you all on your toes
Your toes that sink into the soil you built, in a frame he built with his brother
Your partner, who builds mostly with code in the digital world
A layer of existence your inner child cannot comprehend
She would understand the garden
The swings between the apple trees
The purple tulip bulbs in the paper bag to plant in fall to bloom next spring
The stack of catalogs for further bulbs to join the symphony of appreciation on this land
Playing across time with instruments and musicians unknown – how many generations?
The feeling rising inside that says flee
But the softening, too, that says see beauty here, make beauty here
Anoint / nurse / wiggle / adorn / discern / kerplosh / buzz / sink / comprehend / plant / bloom
Editor’s note: Gwen has submitted many beautiful poems to New Beginnings recently. If you’ve missed them, you can check out her poem Matilde here and Yet and Ever here.
Mothers’ Milk
By Erin O.
It’s Mom’s Secret Recipe
Oh, so Fine
Specially Formulated
Every Time
It’s a Feat of Biology
Nature’s Art
A Womanly Superpower
From the Heart
This Potent Elixir
Of Liquid Might
Nourishes and Protects
It’s so Right
This Corporeal Effusion
Of Good Health
Endows Our Children
With a Wealth of Health
Nourish with Your Milk
And by Your Breast
It’s as Strong as Silk
Endures all Test
This Wholesome Brew
From Mother to Child
Through Ages and Cultures
Tames our Wild
Hundreds of Ingredients
Known to Be
For each, it is Customized
All for Free
Even Through Turmoil
Trouble or Strife
Breast is the Best
For a Good Life
This Gift Everlasting
Is a Liquid Glue
Bringing and Bonding
Me to You
If you’d like to share your own reflections and experiences from parenthood and breastfeeding, we’d love to hear them. Please send your stories to Kylie at [email protected]
Supporting Breastfeeding Families–Today, Tomorrow, Always
Please consider donating to La Leche League USA.
Your gift helps support this blog and the website!
Donations of any amount are gratefully accepted. Thank you!
Follow us on:
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Category: Poems
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