by Laura E. Davis
I was on my back that morning
standing still & running
half-turned, fetal &
spread eagle
& curled up
along the edge
of the hospital bed
and the doctor says
“It’s time,”
& I already know because
it has always been
time, time to push & she
is explaining to me
how to push, how to
undulate you from my body
& as she explains
I bring my chin to my chest
even though my chin was already
there & had never been there
& never would be
just like you were already there
& had never been
& never would not be there
because I already knew & know how to push
& so I push & was pushing because
I’d always been pushing
& you appeared
blue and be-limbed
because I push you there
right there, little boy, into the world
& onto my abdomen
right where you’d forever
never been before
and after amen.
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