Why do we carry our babies? We carry them because it is a biological, instinctive parental response, that blesses the children we carry, and that blesses us. I find myself blessed by the small part I share in the carrying journeys of the people I meet, and wrote this to celebrate.

 

carried baby“I am a carried baby

And I am blessed.

The outside world is new,

strange and cold and full of space.

It makes me cry.

But here, in enfolding arms

That lift me up, I am close

I am warm, I am safe.

I will not fall.

Resting here I find once more

The familiar rhythms of my journey

I will not be left behind.

I belong.

I am a carried baby

And I am blessed.

________________

I have a carried baby

And I am blessed.

This tiny little life is so new,

so fragile, so beloved.

It makes me cry.

But here, cradled in my arms

on my chest, held close

My baby rests, secure, in peace.

I will not fail.

Holding my baby I discover

the strength within me once again

We will grow together.

We belong.

I have a carried baby,

and I am blessed.”

© Rosie Knowles

bonding poetry secure attachment the joy of carrying