My Daughter Eats Books

My Daughter Eats Books

Amelia Roché Hyde

My daughter eats books like we’re
All called to eat the Word, tongue

Desperately seeking truth,
Open mouth searching for the
Verity ere birth she knew.

My daughter eats words like she
Eats my body, eagerly

Her brand new mouth bites ink on
Page, more and more she sups and
Chews me, her life by me made.

Her bone of my bones, her flesh
Of my flesh which craves yours too,
Yet I look for bread elsewhere.

She eats my body like you
Call me to eat your body,

Reverently, clinging to
My flesh worshipfully, naught
But being at home, hiraeth

Fulfilled in her searching and
Successful mouth, fists clenched in
Primordial euphoria.

This joy I feel too–If my
Hunger met, answered by hers,
How much more will you feed me?

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Amelia Roché Hyde
Poet & Researcher

Amelia is a writer and historian. Her writing explores transtemporal connections between grand historic narratives and personal lived experiences. Currently based in New York City, Amelia has lived and worked in the American South and England.

Photography by Stefano Perego