Labour
Patricia Wallace
His fingers eased the pain
As he followed her through the world
Encircled in his arms.
His voice, low and strong, brought words to sooth
As she moaned and crooned
To bring forth life.
Locked together they were life itself
Life stood still in time
Life flowing with earth forces.
United in their labour and by their love
They closed themselves together in their world
Her labour and his empathy were one
Like works of art dependent on each other
Their worth immeasurable
Was love — is life itself.
Patricia Wallace
Patricia Wallace lives just outside of Dublin, Ireland. She is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin M/Phil in Creative Writing. Her work has previously appeared in Literary Orphans’ Special Irish Edition 2014, Poems from Phizzfest 2016, and Bath Flash Fiction Inaugural Anthology 2017. Patricia is a recipient of an Arts Council Research Grant to attend the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference 2011. She is fascinated by the spiritual connection between humans and the natural world. She is currently enjoying writing flash fiction and poetry. Patricia is immersed in a speculative fiction novella as she plans a reunion with her neglected labour of love—a novel based in Ireland and New Mexico.