To the Mothers

I will love all my mothers.
I will love them, each and every fragmented soul.
I will love them for the moonlight bleeding through blinds.
I will love them through every itch of memory and prayer.
I will love them through the weight of blood on lip.
I will love them for every split of flesh.
I will love them for the sores on my tongue.
I will love them for the iris that has become my own.

I will love my mothers.
I will love them for their sharpness of bite.
I will love them for every twist of breath.
I will love every blood vessel, every spoken word.
I will love their scar tissue carried on my back.
I will love.

I am their daughter born.
I am the woman of their breath, their bite.
I am a woman of their body and salt.
I am their woman, they are mine.
I will love my mothers
as I love myself.