Hello, It's Me
Sunnylyn Thibodeaux
For Unborn Baby Ballard
There are just over a dozen
weeks left before we meet
Do you know me?
I wonder what your eyes will look like
Will they look like the sun?
Will your nose spread like the island?
*
Are you gonna expect me to sing?
Will I naturally speak in sing-song
tunes for your comfort?
Will you wake at 2 and at 3
and again at 4?
*
We have a small place for you
I think it'll be adequately comfortable
The walls are yellow and the woodwork dark
There is a large horse on the wall
I hope it brings you dreams of enchanted forests
and sand stone castles, notes from carousel songs
There are less than 100 days til your arrival
I am always planning with food
Do you agree with cheese
or heirloom tomatoes
sage and brussels sprouts?
Will you be offended
if I have a glass of wine?
*
We do our best to save the planet
Sometimes more so than ourselves
Will you take to this lesson
Will you share your pluots with the neighbor
Will your hair curl just on one side
your toes pick up a pencil?
*
When you meet me will it be what you were expecting
will you know my scent, my crooked smile
How long will it take your eyes
to fix on my flaws? your ears
to fix on the poem?
Will you be in awe of the dragonfly
heartbroken by the sound of war?
*
When you learn our language
may thank-you be ever present
and translations of it abundant
May you know the poem
as a sound you can never turn off
May you know this is only the first
to welcome you into this broken world
May it be better for knowing your presence
