When a baby boy is born
and the midwife
holds him up
as he takes
his first breath,
Place him over
the Mother’s face
so when the baby exhales
his first breath on Earth
the Mother breathes it.
And when the Mother dies,
her middle-aged son
the baby grew up to be—
by her side,
his head next to her head—
Follows her breathing with his breath
as it becomes shorter,
and as the dying Mother
exhales her last breath
her son inhales it.
