Saint Brigid’s Womb-Healing by Christina Hennemann

Saint Brigid’s Womb-Healing

From the church of wood and wattle and mud

she brought them miracles, and each woman

rose above the heat of blood in sickness, or so I heard.

Hush now, she said, open your fists

and feel the air in your palms, that weightless 

gift of God you can only hold when you’re aching.

Think of his lips on yours, the bed of straw, the horses

eavesdropping in the fields. Faith led you

on this path, to love’s swell and ebb. My slope of stomach

shrank under her hands. This is God’s healing, she said,

each breath you pull from the ribs. Let your dreams

go and watch them gather as dew drops

on tomorrow’s grass. Take your shoes off before you walk

across its leaves; follow the robin’s song. 

Christina Hennemann is a poet and writer from Ireland, with work published in The Marrow, Poetry Ireland, Poetry Wales, Dust Poetry, Lunch Ticket and elsewhere. She received an Agility Award from Arts Council Ireland, a Mayo Artist Bursary and the Shared Island Freedom to Write Award supported by the John Hewitt Society and Irish PEN. Her awards include the Diana Woods Memorial Award in creative nonfiction and the Luain Press Poetry Prize. Christina’s debut poetry collection ‘Birthmark’ was published by Shearsman in 2025. www.christinahennemann.com