Nearly Baby

Written shortly before Little S was born:

My wife,

The wonderful woman lying by my side,

Has a baby in her belly.

A baby that kicks and pushes and gives her indigestion

And makes her wish that she wasn’t pregnant anymore

But if that baby was –

No longer in her belly –

Born –

It would cry and breathe and poo and smile and drink and walk and be –

A new child

To love

Yet not so long ago

This baby was not –

Anything –

It did not exist

Except as an inkling in my mind

And the mind of this wonderful woman

Lying by my side