From the Rocking Chair: A collection of motherhood poetry and prose

By Jessica L Driscoll

From the Rocking Chair is a raw and reflective collection of motherhood poetry and prose. Jessica's writing explores the inner voice of early motherhood, from the hard to the heart warming, and provides a place for mothers to feel their own sentiments echoed and their own hearts understood.

In ten delightfull

• Language: English
• Publisher: From the Rocking Chair
• Release date: Dec 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9780645330519

Book preview

© 2022 Jessica Driscoll / From The Rocking Chair

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission in writing of the publisher.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia at catalogue.nla.gov.au

Cover and internal design and layout by Tess McCabe

www.tessmccabe.com.au

Edited by Rebecca Tisdale

Paperback ISBN 978-0-6453305-0-2

Ebook ISBN 978-0-6453305-1-9

Printed in Australia / worldwide by Ingram Spark

Instagram@fromtherockingchair

DISCLAIMER

The views, opinions and thoughts expressed in this book belong solely to the author and are intended for the purpose of entertainment. This book should not be used as a substitute for professional assistance, therapeutic support or medical advice. In the event of physical or mental distress, please consult with appropriate health professionals. The application of ideas and information presented in this book are the choice of the reader, who assumes full responsibility for their understanding, interpretation or results. The author assumes no responsibility for the actions or choices of any reader.

To my daughter, H

My greatest inspiration.

I will spend forever trying to find the words

to show you just how much I love you.

CONTENTS

From the rocking chair

one

MY LOVE FOR YOU

Love you like no other

Soft

Dream come true

Being held by your child

Lemon drops

The pull

Bedtime

Home and haven

You and I

My child, my own

Love you for you

two

IN MY ARMS, IN MY HEART

Of course it is you

Baby button nose

This body

Curled into me

Favourite time of day

Footsteps beneath the moon

Bedtime

Here

I love you I love you I love you

Contact nap

Rest upon me

Look at you

Holiday season

When a child needs their mother

The days of little you

Gentle wave to the day

three

MOTHERING

Mother

The way of a mother

The beauty in the imperfection

The flame

I am but ‘Mother’

Motherhood CV

Coming over

Need to leave the house

Sticky floors

This tiredness

The mother, the moor

The slowing

The mental load

Energy

So tired

Exhaustion

Just

To mother

Had to leave you

Wasn’t it just the beginning?

Taking care

four

OLD FRIENDS, NEW FRIENDS, PLEASE BEAR WITH ME DEAR FRIENDS

Before I was a mum

Little conversations

Little note

Bear with me

Conversations

Mum friends

five

MOTHER, ME

The birth of you

The time we need to heal

Mother’s strength

Everyday magic

Stronger

All of me

Simply as I am

INSOMNIA!

Breathe at last

Overwhelm

Whole again

If I met her now

Selfies

Time with me

I am mother

six

IN THE NIGHT

Effortless

Rest your head with me love

4am

Broken lines

Hand to chest

Mummy

In the midst of slumber

Big king bed

I love it in the night-time

Butterflies of slumber

Always be your home

seven

MILKY BREATH

Milky breath

Sunshine

How long?

Latched in slumber

Out and about

Side to side

Little mouth

Mastitis

Pumping

Little acrobat

I grew for you

eight

OTHER LOVE

One day you will know

The centre of it all

When I hug my mother

Us

Her grandmother, her friend

The one that we call home

Need you

Oh, my heart

To my own mother

My dear friend, the mother

Travel time

My husband, your daddy

Father

nine

INTUITION

All I heard was you

I’m right here

Feed to sleep

Vulnerability

Crying

Clung to me

Human

Brave

Say no

Childhood

The comfort

Move to you

Lost herself

Today

A need all of its own

The books say

Surrender

ten

WATCHING YOU GROW

Slow down, time

The ocean

In the dark

I want you to know

Before you grow a little more

On the run

Smiles

In wonder

Playing on your own

This bed

Puddles

Rush through life

Tweet tweet

The little things

Laughing in your sleep

Watch you grow

Acknowledgements

About the author

FROM THE ROCKING CHAIR

With the to and fro of the rocking chair

The words began to spin

Prose, they flowed, and couplets turned

To poems from within

The depths of this new mother’s mind

Consumed in its new phase

The discovery of my truest self

In my daughter’s early days.

And, with that, a book was born

The one that you read now

The story of my motherhood

And the phases all throughout.

From early days to toddlerhood

This is my greatest try

To put in words my love for her

And this tale of her and I.

one

MY LOVE FOR YOU

LOVE YOU LIKE NO OTHER

My baby I say to myself

Letting the words fall softly out

In disbelief, you are here with me

The one I dreamed about.

Darling child, don’t you know

I love you like no other

That before you came into this world

No one had called me mother.

And when it was you came to be

So, in a way, did I

The moment you lay on my chest

And gazed into my eyes.

I pull you close, breathe you in

Soak in your sweet face

Hold you in this rocking chair

Our most beloved place

And whisper ‘Darling, don’t you know

I love you like no other?

For you made me who I am today,

The one that you call mother’.

SOFT

This tiny hand

The softest skin

The gentleness of you

That I grew within

Is the cure and the care

The mender of all

The suspender of time

The rise from the fall.

No matter the cause

The resolve is the same

The elixir of joy

Embodied, and named.

The essence of you

Just you as you are

With one touch of your hand

You heal my heart.

DREAM COME TRUE

It astounds me

the magnificent simplicity of this life with you.

How your little smile can scatter even the darkest of skies with the light of a million stars.

Some moments I find myself captivated by you

lost in thoughts of the you I had dreamt of

wondering, always, who you would be

who you would look like, sound like

who... who?... who?

Now I see

it is you.

I exhale into you

the existence and reality of you, my sweet child

Realising that not only are you everything I had dreamt of

but more.

So much more.

Magnificently, simply

You.

BEING HELD BY YOUR CHILD

Is there any feeling quite like

When the arms of your child

Reach for you, requesting to

Embrace a little while?

My darling, when you hold me

My worries fall away

I forget about the housework

And the stresses of the day.

My darling, when you hold me

It becomes so very clear

I thought that it was only you

That needed me near.

But