"Mother | Soldier" (Digital collage using photos sourced from Ballistic Magazine and Bazaar + digital illustration; 2021).
The final installment in my "Woman Series" is Model 4: Mother | Soldier. Swipe to read the conversation that inspired this piece. You may recognize "Nick" from two other pieces I have shared before. He is now a member of The Sareytales Hall of Shame....
A different kind of war. Battles fought on the terrain of our bodies. Small deaths every day. Losing ourselves, becoming ourselves. A new life departs the womb, leaving the old to fend for itself. A sacrifice for future generations. We don't learn about these battles. The risk, the struggle of pregnancy, the trauma of delivery, the despair of postpartum or the agony of mourning a life not lived. Surviving, coping, in a body that feels other, with a heart that holds too much love for the new world it has created.
Some wars kill. Others create.