Personal Share

My baby has fallen asleep.
Finally his chest moves up and down.
His soft hair at his ear.
He smells clean, soapy from his bath.

 

I know him inside out.
The creases at his elbow,
The plumpness of his cheeks.
What makes him coo or cry,
Is part of me.

 

He's wrapped just in a towel.
That's how he fell asleep
and so
I left him like that
I would not want to wake him
Or
We would both be up the night
And I've only just taught him to sleep -
Four hours at a go.

It is a precious thing to be needed so, by
Such an innocent.
Relied on entirely for sustenance,
My maternal heart moulds his life,
His days.

And yet it does get tiresome for
I have some work to think of too.

My baby lies asleep
And I am wide awake.
Feeling how much I love him.
Dreaming of what he will become