The Days Before My Birth

The Days Before My Birth

My brothers and sisters came to me one by one.

She had prepared them.

They touched me through her

Just the way she taught them:

So that she would not be hurt.

They rubbed with their fingers hoping

I would never appear.

I didn’t kick back.

I curled into myself.

The way she kept us apart

Seemed natural.

We grew wishing

The next one gone.

We had these thoughts,

With her watching, with our eyes shut,

Before we could speak.