Doula

Deep speaks to deep. Womb 
greets womb & blessed 
are you who wriggled & writhed, 
who left behind the warmth 
of the uterus & crawled through mucus 
& blood. Blessed are you who fell 
into the steady hands 
of an aunt or an overworked 
nurse, an exhausted father or a giddy 
bisabuela, bone-tired 
from acclamation 
& hymn—& to all of them— 
to each of our forebears 
who prayed us into being, 
who sang

O Come, O Come

In their own tongue, by night 
& day, through mourning & despair, 
who carried the God 
of Hope unto flesh & breath.

Who caught Jesus? Who was the weary 
midwife? Who was the doula?

Are we not the hallelujah 
that You deliver into open hands?