A Patient Mother

[Paul de Denus]

In the hold of the Rio Bella, she hangs from a black pipe, heavy like cold wet wash on a line. The giant bell soundings of the engine room hammer the walls in lullaby song. She does not seem to notice or react; deathly still, her tongue occasionally tests the suffocating air. They are four days out of Fernando de Noronha; it will be another week before reaching port in Miami. By then she will have given birth and the hold will be moving with much more than its normal cargo. She waits, a patient mother.

 

*a repost of a 6 from a year or so ago- inspired by multiple snake sightings while out on walks recently

[Jeanette Cheezum]

God bless her. This rips my heart.

[Mike Handley]

First planes, and now boats? I think I'll stick to watching the world through the Lincoln emblem on my car hood.

[Gita]

This is painfully beautiful.  I like she hangs from a black pipe, heavy like cold wet wash on a line. And I want to know if she is a mamba and I wonder  how she and the babies will get out of the hold. I am rooting for her and not the deck hands in the Port of Miami.    fave