Ask Me in December
Babs Iverson Unofficial Challenge
Ask me in December
when the round, low weight
of my abdomen
is sleeping
in the red bassinet by the footboard
of our bed.
By then,
if the people who already know
(and everyone- parent or not- seems to be an expert)
are right,
we should be getting a little sleep
and the hungry cries
at 10 and 2
will begin to dwindle-
but only if we have a good baby.
For now,
strangers will break my space bubble
and lay hands
on this life-changing growth
I am incubating.
They give unsolicited advice
on the most intimate of topics-
money, sex, coping with blended faith,
and how to heal the chafed nipples
that they all promise I will have.
But nobody speaks
of the leap of faith
we took when creating new life.
I don’t know if they remember
the screaming we did in our car
in driveways of various parties
when we were parked in
and needed a place to say the terrible things
we only say to one another.
They don’t ask
about whether he is still
sleeping in his office on a few nights per week
or if he has started to look at me
again
like he did when we first met.
So when you do ask me, this December,
about the direction of our family
and whether the person-shaped promise
we made
was enough-
will you ask the hard questions?
Will you see past our charming façade?
Will you mistake our exhausted, sated joy for strife?
If you do get it wrong,
stay.
Learn to know us.
The only thing I can tell you now
is that it will be different in December
and every December after that.
About the Creator
Penny Fuller
(Not my real name)- Other Labels include:
Lover of fiction writing and reading. Aspiring global nomad. Woman in science. Most at home in nature. Working my way to an unconventional life, story by story and poem by poem.
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Comments (3)
Wow! This had so much rawness and hit with such a powerful impact! Very well done, Penny!
What I hate the most is unsolicited advice. Sending you lots of love and hugs ❤️
Fantastic!!! Loved it!!!💕❤️❤️