cotton ties of the stiff gown
shiver down her bare back as she tiptoes
along corridors holding
her stomach in her wet bandaged chest
the long walls at night still
heavy white close in
on the pink poodle clutched
in her left hand Mimi
she named her as she filled the legs
fine-combed the tuft
of her wool tail over the curve
of her belly she leaves
a trail of bright red drops drip drip
down the inside of her legs along the lino
to here
the breathing room
pauses in the quiet
she slinks
along the lines reads plastic tags
on the sides of metal cribs finds
her eyes wide open
the swell of lightness
pupil unfocused dream undefined
shape of her eyebrows of her
pink-splotch face little cap and coddled she takes all
the details in whispers
three words across her cheek the unbearable
milky smell of her already
and starch she slips

Mimi in
the tight pocket between
her sheet and steel bars leaves her
there in the crib she
creeps away the pull of her
cramping womb for
twenty two more years