Wombyn Lineage: Struggles to Inner Strength

Writing Prompt: They say that wombyn are the bearers of multiple families (generations), through one womb. They grow the seed of life and share a deeper strength from its pains. (This piece is meant to be presented as a monologue in spoken word)

 

Introduction: I was born on April 23, 1974 as the 1st grandchild in my family and daughter to Sara E. Bustamante, who consummated her marriage at the age of 17 with Rafael C. Garcia. I experienced death at the age of 13 but have yet to discover true love at the age of 36. I’m a thirsty vagabond who flees before roots begin to grow but I romanticize about finding permanent ground on a daily basis. Among my many diverse life experiences, giving birth has not been one of them. I have been fortunate to witness familial wombyn embrace the joys and struggles that begin in the womb and travel through each generation. Ultimately, their labor pains have built my inner strength. My deepest secret: I don’t see my sexuality as an insecurity. I embrace my rendezvous as a man that sows his wild oats. It does not keep me from being myself or believing in love. Wombyn Lineage: To Be Determined.

 

A widow for almost 22 years yet she was only married for 15 and had three children by the age of 22. Sara has chosen to not re-marry. She has had a number of proposals along with four distinct heartbreaks. The first being the death of her father when she was six, then her Tia Carmen’s violent murder, third her beloved husband dying at the young age of 36 and recently, her eldest brother left her before his gray years. She shared giving life with her mother, they both gave birth to their last child, both daughters, only three months apart. She struggles with independence but acknowledges her triumphs through the lives of her daughters and grandchildren. Her deepest secret: she wishes to fall in love, again, in order to sleep with only one man for the rest of her life. Wombyn Lineage: Mother of three wombyn and grandmother of one wombyn child.

 

Sara was born 2nd child to a wombyn sculpted by personal tragedies. Catalina. I would state her last name but she’s had too many. Not by birth but by death. She was an orphan at ten and buried her only sister many years ago after she was slayed by her lover. She’s twice a widow and the father of her last child, which was conceived via an extra marital affair, also died before his time. She stopped drinking due to health reasons, had a stomach tumor removed but continues to raise children in her home. She helped her eldest daughter deal with widowhood and picks up the pieces when her other two daughters struggle through unstable relationships and motherhood. She recently buried her eldest son. Death has aged her spirit and callused her mind. Her deepest secret: she lives by another name. Wombyn Lineage: Mother of four wombyn, one which died at the age of two, grandmother to eight wombyn and great-grandmother to two wombyn children.

 

Rafael was born 1st child to a wombyn whose lips have never touched alcohol and once lived in a house made of adobe. She was married to the same man for almost 60 years, with countless stories of his infidelities. Maria Luisa Castillo still makes homemade tortillas, had a brain tumor removed and buried her eldest son a long time ago. She helped her middle daughter survive breast cancer and a complicated divorce while her eldest daughter healed from lung surgery, twice. She recently watched the only man she ever kissed on the lips deteriorate from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. She continues to be a pillar for the family, even though she has suffered the most. Her deepest secret: she loved another man before her husband. Wombyn Lineage: Mother of four wombyn, grandmother of six wombyn including one wombyn child and great-grandmother to one wombyn child.

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