THE WOMAN WITH CHILD How I am held within a tranquil shell, As if I too were close within a womb. I too enfolded as I fold the child. As the tight bud enwraps the pleated leaf, The blossom furled like an enfolded fan, So life enfold me as I fold my flower. As water lies within a lovely bowl, I lie within my life, and life again Lies folded fast within my living cell. The apple waxes at the blossom's root, And like the moon I mellow to the round Full circle of my being, till I too Am ripe with living and my fruit is grown, Then break the shell of life. We shall be born, My child and I, together, to the sun. -- Freda Laughton (born 1907) Dedicated to all parents who have lost a child, who can look forward to the promised reunion with those departed and of eternal life - Jean