Midwife’s Bargain
A gasp, a scream,
the night spliced
for the birthing
of a ruby morning.
I pull in sync
with your pushing,
grip against
slime and blood.
You’ve freed yourself
by a hair’s breadth,
from rivers crusting
red, brown, black.
I hold you against it,
vernix-clad flesh
on sweaty pallor,
wriggling to glide
from my hands,
blood thickens
between my fingers
as the knell rings
three times— twice,
and the crows
silver their screech
in the yew’s crown.
Christina Hennemann is based on the West Coast of Ireland. She’s the author of the poetry chapbooks “Illuminations at Nightfall” (Sunday Mornings at the River, 2022) and “Witch/Womb” (BookHub Publishing, forthcoming 2024). She’s a recipient of an Irish Arts Council’s Agility Award and was long- and shortlisted in writing competitions. Her work appears in Poetry Ireland, Poetry Wales, The Belfast Review, The Selkie, Anthropocene, The Moth, York Literary Review, Moria, and elsewhere. www.christinahennemann.com