You wake up hungry and hollering so we leave the other
guests, wandering the church basement hallway to find
an empty meeting room where I sit on a folding chair
to feed you as sunlight dyes the room gold. The carpet
is undeniably seventies, yarn like, a potpourri palette,
and there’s the smell of old books though the shelves
are bare. I notice your hair growing lighter, catching
the sun like water, and your eyes, too, have recently
gone from navy to lake blue. It is our first October
together. Last year I was five weeks pregnant and
afraid. Now I hear Elyse in the other room, saying
thank you again and again, crumpling tissue, tearing
paper, unveiling the artifacts of new life. Now I rest
in golden light, feeding my own child, saying silently,
again and again: Thank you thank you thank you.
At Elyse’s Baby Shower
Emily Patterson (she/her) is the author of The Birth of Undoing (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2025), as well as three chapbooks. Her poetry appears in North American Review, SWWIM, Stirring, The Penn Review, CALYX, The Shore, and elsewhere. Emily lives with her family in Columbus, Ohio and works as a curriculum designer with Highlights for Children. Read more at emilypattersonpoet.com.