”Womb” is the first poem from the collection When Mom Is Gone by Montreal-based multimedia artist Elsasoa Jousse. In the author’s words, the series focuses on themes of “craving, losing, and then finding motherhood.” Read the piece “Womb,” and keep an eye out for her following works to be released as a short series in the coming weeks.

Illustration by Reilly Webster

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Womb

Eyes close, Head tilts

Backwards, Weight lifts,

Water calmly

Lifts my body.

Sensations numbed,

Protection all

Around my shape,

My mind is blank.

Safety cared for,

Almost Love with

No condition:

Wishful thinking...

The bath is cold,

I fear the truth,

I stand and look:

Illusion gone.

Lost and scared of

Giant setting,

Gasps for breath when

Coming panic.

I wish she would

Be here with me

And hold, embrace,

Relieve my cries,

Eat me full and

Pull me back in

Haste, in fear of

Death, Her only,

Her child, alone,

And only her

Is strong enough,

Can love enough.

Save me mother!

Take me home to

Peace and warmth,

Let me fill your

Womb.

Elsasoa Jousse is a multimedia artist from France and Madagascar based in Montreal, Canada. Her main interests are poetry, spoken word, music production, and DJing under the name NGL Flounce. Her narrative and lyrical poems form nuanced sketches of self-reflection, loss, sexuality, culture, cycles of life and earth, and the critique of Eco-Fascism.

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Illustration by Reilly Webster