para mis 2 hijas, a los 7 meses de embarazo

i’ve got
to keep on
                                       moving


lately it’s hard
to make the day end
when my back won’t hold me,
my skin burns,
and some days
i can’t climb the stairs
at the DFCS building:
got to stop
and rest.


one foot
in front of the other—
that’s how I know
we’ll make it.
No one to talk to but myself
who tells me:
a little bit further;
got to eat first,
all got to be
all right.


when i reach the top
of those stairs
i just want to sit


hold your hands and smell
your soft princess-smelling
hair
against my face


sister still settling like a bird
under my skin


we’ll hug, look out that big window
over parking lots and train tracks
talk about the letters
and what we want to eat


so so happy because we know
we never have to get up
ever again


02.02.06