My child,

I still see you,

just born,

with your vibrant new face,

shaped by contractions

that brought you to the world;

and I hear the

first cry of urgent life

and see your chest move with breath,

as your tender red skin

greets the new day.

 

Now you are gone

and our ties are cut,

but that first memory

of skin on skin

and life to life

remains

tattooed in my flesh,

living in the substance

that is me.

 

On that last day,

in the moment

of my last breath,

there you will be

with your wet red eyes,

still skin to skin

and life to life

as my child.

 

4/4/2016