My Child

Slow to mature

I didn’t want a baby

Till I was 40

Then thought of myself

As a cliché

Then found myself a man

To have one with

And couldn’t

Then was surprised

Because I’d always got

What I wanted.

So was it want

Was it clock, biology

Or was it pressure

From society

To be normal

To fit in

To center on something

Other than self

Is there even a self

Or just one complex being

An invisible cord

Connecting us one to the other?

One of my students

Hugs me daily

Says Miz McQueen

You too skinny

Says Miz McQueen

Can I come live witchoo in your house
Says Miz McQueen

I want to be your daughter

And I say Sweet child

Darling girl

You already are.