The Shape of Words

this body

I would like
to greet this body
as an old friend.
To know it
intimately
by its breath
and tread.
To pull out a chair
for my bones
and offer water
to my skin
and say,
with the heft
of truth,
‘How good it is
to see you.’

we, mother

Mother is a noun
without gender
and a verb
with full teeth.

It is a blind path
among sharp rocks.
It is laps in an ocean
with no horizon.

almost there

At 36 weeks, I am almost there.

truth

Some jobs don’t work out.
Some opportunities flop.
Some relationships fail.

Occasionally
we lose things
we badly wanted.

him

I told him
I would not change
a single thing
about
him.

he looked at me
eyebrows raised
and said, “really?”

we were open

people often ask me
how my husband and I
first came together,
where we met.

after 8 years,
I don’t want to mention
the place or the date
or the circumstances.

on forgiveness

maybe today
is a good day
to forgive someone
unasked

to empty out
leftover anger
and hurt
and pain

You’re 8 months pregnant.

You’re having Braxton-Hicks contractions — meant to prepare your body for real labor in just 9 weeks. You shrug…