The Millennium Issue:
Future
Allen Itz
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Baby Stuff
I remember the day,
late March, early spring,
sunshine and a sky scrubbed blue
by a brisk bay breeze.
Our families came from all directions,
arriving in a rush at the last minute,
everything unplanned and unexpected.
We had been called only the day before,
barely a week after they told us
to expect a wait of six months to a year.
Then the phone call at mid-afternoon,
he'll be ready at noon tomorrow, they said,
and he'll come with only the diaper he wears.
Unprepared, we panicked, rushing to the K-Mart,
pushing a squeaky cart from aisle to aisle.
What does a baby need? we ask each other.
Bottles, a bottle warmer, diapers, oh Lord...
What else? Clothes, bassinet, a stroller...
No, that's later. A car seat...
Oh, Lord, oh, Lord, what else?
We fell together in the middle
of the baby stuff section,
holding on to each other,
laughing.
~Allen Itz
Allen's work also appears in The Horsethief's Journal, Alchemy, Avante Garde Times, Maelstrom, The ShallowEnd, and the Blueline Poetry Forum, where he is August's Guest Moderator. Email him.
© 2000 by Allen Itz. All Rights Reserved.
© 2000-2002 by Cayuse Press. All Rights Reserved.
This page updated April 23, 2002.