Wild Love

By Becky Morquecho
@beckymorquecho

She grips his hand
as if 
she’ll remove it from his body
and then
with a guttural scream
motherhood is birthed from her own
body, or waiting
terrified young
instinctually cry out 
for the kind of love
only a beast of a mother
can bear

She wraps her limbs
around her babies
scraping through hours
of sleeplessness
trenches
of uncertainty
fending off fevers and disease 
shielding her offspring
from the elements
and injury
sacrificing herself
to absorb their pain

She opens the fridge and 
ravages its insides
the pantry watches, teeth chattering
hunger gnaws at her guts
but she claws through the kitchen
scavenging for sustenance
to feed her cubs
not herself
she rips open a container
of whatever remains
and traps the heat of the fire to cook it 
behind the oven door

She wears scars
from her own brawls
with depression and despair
but breaks free 
from the traps
to warn her babies of
lurking predators
—fear, anxiety, self-doubt—
one flash of her sharp canines 
and the wolves retreat 
safeguarding innocence 
a little longer

She wakes before 
the warmth of the sun
ripping slumber from her body
to chase down dreams
with a club
swinging mercilessly
sweat flies from her brow
as she locks her gaze on
worth, purpose, delight
inching closer each dawn
pounding her chest
as the words pour out

She patrols 
the front stoop
of the black night
defending her den 
from the enemy’s schemes
shrouding her home 
from sin and lies
feral prayers 
pierce the darkness
the fire in her heart 
burns
keeping the thief at bay

Maybe you’ve seen her
roaming the aisles
roaring on the sidelines
scaling barbed wire fences
to reach her young, her dreams
or, maybe
in the mirror 
staring back with
her unruly mane
her unscathed intuition
her untamed

wild love 

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Poem by Becky Morquecho. Becky is a wife to Jesse (yes, just like Full House), an adoptive mama, and an adventurer. She loves thrifting, fuchsia bougainvilleas, and gigantic Mediterranean salads. She believes there is beauty and goodness just waiting to be discovered and writes about it often. You can keep up with her work over on Substack.

Photo by Jennifer Floyd.