When at last there was
An unsettling movement
Within myself, I touched
My breasts and rubbed my
Stomach and felt what it
Was to be a woman.
The delicate curvature
of my thigh to the tip of my
rounded buttocks. The glistening of
My young eyes, even the soft,
Kitten-tongue pink
Of my own nipples.
I could not locate
My womb
But pointed to a fleshy patch
Of skin and knew a life
Could grow well there.
Remember when we chose our
Favorite girl’s names? Yours was
Olivia and I imagined
All the nicknames we’d call
Her. “Ollie and Olive”
I would brush her hair
Slowly every night.
We would spin mobiles
And sing lullabies
And create a love
More intricate than an atom.
You would bandage her
Scrapes and take-off her
Training wheels and hold
Her so high on your shoulders,
She would pocket The sun.
I ran to the drugstore
And bought the test of
My future.
