Before her, I was
South-facing as a loose tooth plucked from sore gums.
There is a affinity shared with her
In this gloomy hair, like graphite
Fingerprints anointed on my featureless cranium; and how
Before me, she was
Broken as the noon's fever. Her boyish hips fanning out,
Abdicating space for my anemone palms
To measure their wingspan.
Jellylike expectancy
Suspends us in a flood of adrenaline.
In light of Mother's Day, I am recalling the horrific time my dad showed me a video of her birthing me