Deliverance

By Marylou Cunningham Leavitt

John 16:21

“A woman in … travail

[Bear down, they said]

hath sorrow, because

her hour is come.”

I watched the clock

and thought

how glad I was for you.

Someone wiped my face

and placed a cone

upon my nose.

I shook it away.

“Oh let him breathe

[just give me strength]

let him breathe his first breath

clear as mine.”

For a moment

it was very black

and pain pushed me down

and you out

of my night.

“But as soon as she is delivered

of the child, she remembereth

no more the anguish,

for joy.”

And I would travel the night

again for you.

I would travel the night again

for this moment of light.