Striae*
Ask the artist to make
the true belly of the mother his muse
to colour the life lines
that ripple like prayer flags
to draw the sinuous line of the back
the shadow of the womb
the small remnant pleat
turn back beneath the heart
this is where all arms first stretch
this is where all feet first kick
this
*striae - a latin word for furrow or channel, used in clinical practice to describe stretch marks
Sue Butler grew up a convent-educated Catholic and studied medicine in the time of Women's Liberation and of having it all: a career in General Practice, husband and sons. In retirement she took up walking and Creative Writing, considering both to be unpredictable forms of meditation on life in all its grace, pain and peculiarity.