New Life

After birth, illness.
The nerves get bad
in a squat hut with poor candles
to keep the shadows alive.

And dust stirs
in the dark sacrament of night
sending flickering shivers
through the earth's lineaments.

She sees the vacant stretch of stars
vibrating slightly, like clues,
or taunts from another world,
and feels distinctly sick.

On the seventh day He rested.
Even He felt tired,
tired of all the shuddering atoms
in the corrupt strata of creation.

She collapses, and for the first time,
after long delay,
the desert sand feels the blessing
of her tears.