Breeched Birth
What’s strange is that I’ve never
thought of life without you
until now.
Two years ago
you awoke to you.
Energized, you thinned
firmed, toned, and
moved.
I who had never doubted,
suddenly felt unsure
shaky.
This must be what a bear feels,
stirring from a 5-month slumber
a bit grousy, slow, groggy,
and then, suddenly,
a sharp demanding hunger.
Awakened, you awoke me.
I can’t live like this.
You said. Or I said. Both, probably.
I can’t go back to what I was.
I don’t want you to, either.
Yet within a year
here we are again.
Swollen heads
trying to emerge;
A breech,
threatening the life of the mother.
© 2002 Homer Christensen