outside this hospital room
impatient strangers with empty arms
and a new name
inside
me
my belly a cavern
you
a curled pink koru
in a plastic pod
your first breath a feather floating
a dandelion clock drifting
your first cry a bruise
empty-armed strangers waiting
me
my arms a cradle
you
a koru unfurling
my breast a refrigerator
your mouth foraging
your eyes a mirror
your scallop fists on my fingers
a manacle grip
the empty-armed strangers turn away
and inside this shell
you and me
heartbound