What I Carried

By Maggie Smith
I carried my fear of the world
to my children, but they refused it.
 
I carried my fear of the world
on my chest, where I once carried
my children, where some nights it slept
as newborns sleep, where it purred
but mostly growled, where it licked
sweat from my clavicles.
 
I carried my fear of the world
and apprenticed myself to the fear.
 
I carried my fear of the world
and it became my teacher.
I carried it, and it repaid me
by teaching me how to carry it.
 
I carried my fear of the world
the way an animal carries a kill in its jaws
but in reverse: I was the kill, the gift.
Whose feet would I be left at?
 
I carried my fear of the world
as if it could protect me from the world.
 
I carried my fear of the world
and for my children modeled marveling
at its beauty but keeping my hands still—
keeping my eyes on its mouth, its teeth.
 
I carried my fear of the world.
I stroked it or I did not dare to stroke it.
 
I carried my fear of the world
and it became my teacher.
It taught me how to keep quiet and still
 
I carried my fear of the world
and my love for the world.
I carried my terrible awe.
 
I carried my fear of the world
without knowing how to set it down.
 
I carried my fear of the world
and let it nuzzle close to me,
and when it nipped, when it bit
down hard to taste me, part of me
shined: I had been right.
 
I carried my fear of the world
and it taught me I had been right.
I carried it and loved it
for making me right.
 
I carried my fear of the world
and it taught me how to carry it.
 
I carried my fear of the world
to my children and laid it down
at their feet, a kill, a gift.
Or I was laid at their feet.

Copyright Credit: Maggie Smith, "What I Carried" from Good Bones.  Copyright © 2017 by Maggie Smith.  Reprinted by permission of Tupelo Press.