Mothering - Taraneh Erfan King

When invited to speak on the topic of Mothering, at the January Grace Club event, I knew I wanted to bridge the personal or individual experience of mothering, with the more global or holistic perspective. To me, mothering is not just about being a mother or having a mother. Mothering is about caring for, providing for, attending to, attuning to, considering, fostering, protecting and treasuring those we love. This can of course be our children, but it can also be our partner, our parents, our friends, our neighbours, our community members, our fellow humans, our planetary family, and let's not forget, ourselves. How beautiful a world we can create, if we allow our mothering to start with ourselves, and radiate outwards? Imagine the healing that can occur, like a ripple of love, flowing out from the centre of our hearts, reaching all beings.

So if mothering is inclusive, what might it be able to offer the world at this time? As I sat with this question for the first few weeks of January, the following poem arrived to me all in one sitting on the morning of the Women's March. After sharing it at the event last Sunday, I know it's not meant to stay on sheets of paper, stacked on my dinning room table. It is meant to be shared. So, friends, here it is. 

Gratitude and blessings, 
Taraneh 

taraneherfan.wixsite.com

We say “the future is female”
And raise our fists up to the sky
But for far too long
The female power has been one of
Posing and posturing
Surface beauty and sex-appeal
Trend over Truth

The gloriousness of the female power
Is beyond these
Her glory is in the heat of the red hot blood
Running through her veins
And between her legs

Her glory is in the way she tosses her mane
Not for attention
But so she can lasso the moon
To change the tides
Of this planetary experience

Her glory is in her heart
The way she so fiercely cares
That nothing will stop her in her tracks
She is mama wolf

She is mother to all things
To the beauty and
To the pain
To the child who has lost his way
Forgotten his brothers and sisters
The one who has forgotten to stay curious
About things she has yet to understand
The one who is acting out
Seeking attention
Longing to be love

We can all be her - this mother
Who comes forth with generosity and firmness
Who leads by example
What it means to care
To love
To share
To reset
To belong to each other
To heal together

If this is what it means to mother
We can all be her - this mother
Men and women
Young and old
Our glory transcends the bodies we are born into and birth
Transcends boundaries of
Privilege and country
Colour and race
Gender and the list goes on to the horizon
Of a thousand glorious suns

This mother transcends time and space
And grows in her womb
A deep love
That when birthed
Will heal the whole world

Yes the future is female
And by Goddess
She is a magnificent mother.