Guest Blogger: Birth and it's Beauty (A Poem!)

By Mimi Nussbaum

Mimi currently lives in Sydney, Australia and is a mother of a ten month old son. After spending seven months in Israel following her marriage in 2009, she moved to Australia with her husband to be close to her family. She is currently completing her GradDipEd in Macquarie University, to teach English and History at high school level.

BIRTH AND ITS BEAUTY

I remember the whitewashed walls that surrounded me,

The voices of the doctors that hovered over me like a resonating rhythm.

Was it fear I felt in the pit of my stomach?

Or anticipation for the inexplicable love that

I already felt intrigued and enveloped by?

I was awestruck by the faith that travelled through my veins,

Giving life to the cells of uncertainty that plagued

the deep recesses of my very being.

As the smoky stench filled my nostrils

I felt hostile to the sterility of the doctors and the anaesthetic,

Reluctant to relinquish the control I once cherished.

The warm, human smell of my husband nearby brought relief,

Like the warmth of fire on icy skin

in the harshness of winter’s coldest day.

In what felt like an instant, the chatter and laughter

was drowned out by the beating of my heart.

It felt like a drum in a grand parade,

Fighting to be heard over the other instruments.

“Congratulations” suddenly filled the room;

My baby’s first cry was met with unsurpassable joy and elation.

The gratitude that I felt consumed me like a vice,

Barely letting the oxygen escape my lungs.

I felt him in my arms and knew my life had altered forever.

I now understand the transcendental power of love

and its capacity to fill someone with emotion so strong,

you could survive on it alone.

I remain enthralled by the notion that two people can create an entirely new being, combined with G-d’s inexplicable powers.

It colours my experiences and my world with sheer pleasure;

Fortified by the desire we possess to create, to love and to appreciate 

our G-d given privilege.