My Mother Dances
Tonia Whitman

The tautness of her stretched skin,
The purple ripples around her belly button,
The expansion of her hips.
She flings her head back and smiles.
The rain falls like rivers over a pear.
She doesn’t know I’m watching.

In tune with nature,
Embracing the world.
My mother dances in the rain
With my sister incased in her womb,
Did she dance with me?

My mother needs no music
The beat of the rain on the ground is enough.
Her eyes close
Her head sways
Her feet squish in the mud
Her smile never leaves
I hope to dance in the rain
And cradle the world.