Suckled Stars

Languid.
Black hole.
Exploded sensation.
Noisy urgency.
Unabashed love.
Dissolved.
A star was born.

My newborn daughter suckled at my breast. She feasted as if there was no tomorrow. Her tiny cheeks puffed in and out, concaved and then plumped, with her efforts to drink me in.

Droplets of milk oozed from the corner of her rosebud lips. White beads of my nourishment wandered, lazy rivers of mama love, over her plump pink cheeks. I watched one drop, one pearl, the nectar of the Goddess, swirl and slide over her perfect infant chin and fall, to linger at a tender nub on my cocoa-colored areola. It quivered with our breathing. It quivered with her thirst. It quivered with my ecstasy.

Sunflowers curtsied
on the invisible breath of life.
Succulent kernels dropped
from the center of their cosmos
onto the outstretched
pink tongues
of trees
connected across time
to sister forests
in rich, dark corners
of an interconnected web.

That perfect drop of mama milk meandered, a lazy river, across the luscious curve of my breast, swollen with nourishment. It left behind a shiny liquid trace, a gossamer angelic touch that slid, with a wink, into a crevice among the folds of my baby’s neck. Folds that held her fragrance – sweet, musky, warm, Laura. Only Laura. Always Laura. Forever Laura.

The force of her suckling ignited white lightening, sensations that beat my heart faster, breathed me deeper and stirred a fire. Aphrodite waltzed around my yoni; she released bolts of juicy desire in sensitive nerves.

Waves of passion crested,
lotus flowers tumbled
in frothy foamy pools
of lust with no aim
but to be enjoyed.
tiny corals waved rose and yellow arms
in a sea of feminine delight.

No one told me that breastfeeding could be so sexy, sensuous. No one told me it would bind me to my daughter in an intertwined rope of oneness. No one told me that it would seal a kiss on the understanding that we were separate and inseparable. Bound in the records of time. No one told me how pure love felt.

They spoke of latching and pumping and lactation and discreet nursing. But that dissolution of time and space, no one spoke of it. That long, slow note that floated off the curve of a trumpet to shiver and warm translucent drums in the ear, no one spoke of it. No one spoke of breastfeeding as a direct flight to the Isle of Avalon.

Did they not know? Or was it another one of those things that all women know but do not speak of? A secret shared only in moon lodges, sacred fire circles or with knowing looks among crones who looked back to rejoice in embodied wisdom.

The pale sage green drapery stirred as the furnace kicked on. I sat naked in a Laz-y-boy rocking chair, a shawl, a soft ivory blanket, wrapped around me. Winter sunlight dappled by the limbs of a nude oak tree, streamed through the windowpanes and layered beauty on the taupe carpet floor. A pewter bookmark rested against the leg of the crib. Rainbows and Care Bears danced across the blanket that swaddled my miracle child. She sighed. Her mouth released my nipple. She slept. My arms trembled. I rested, bathed in awe of my suckled new star.

Copyright 2022: Linda Sandel Pettit, Ed.D.
Photo: www.istockphoto.com
_______________________________
Linda Sandel Pettit, Ed.D. inspires intuitive-creative women healers to use their healing modalities, speaking voices, and written words to unfold and share the wisdom of the Sacred Feminine.

The Sacred Feminine embraces intuition, curiosity, connection, authenticity, humility, vulnerability, oneness, and the natural beauty of the body and the earth. Linda’s understanding of the Sacred Feminine is formed from a nonreligious spiritual understanding known worldwide as the 3 Principles. [for more information, see www.sydbanks.com.]

Linda offers sanctuaries, and intimate small-group programs, to women healers who want to bring the 3 Principles into their work, and to women writers who are ready to share, get feedback, revise, and publish.

Through her Apprentice’s Way individual all-in-one mentorship program, Linda encourages her clients’ spiritual evolution, psychological health, effective writing, messaging, marketing, and content creation.

Linda holds a doctorate in counseling psychology, a master’s degree in counselor education and a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Visit www.lindasandelpettit.com to learn more about her programs and array of masterclasses and courses.