Fifth Birth
by Kate Kingston

Born in ice between Aquarius
and Pisces, I remember the chapel piano,
its ivory keys clacking as I toiled
from the womb, my mother
tolling her time under heavy anesthetic.
She will tell me later
how she dreamed I was descending
from the attic, floating headfirst
down the stairwell into her arms
While she slept,
I pressed my skull to her pelvic bone,
so sure of descent, so sure of opening,
like passing through a photograph,
that dark secure place
just before light freezes the image.

Forthcoming in The Future Wears Camouflage Salmon Press, 2022

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