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