Cynthia's Combustion

Yellow. Her downy quilt the crescent moon hanging
onto droops beneath my eyes, the slivers I must keep
open. My head is a muffle of gray matter filled with
endless thoughts of nothing but this newborn’s grunts
and jerks; her slow-crank build up and disconcerted
gurgles urging for release of gas, her right arm punch
of air and left leg kick a squirm releasing her from
swaddled back to frailty, her twisted face finally
breaking free, the noxious explosion a shooting star.

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Laurie Kolp is an avid runner, lover of nature, married mother of three who enjoys living life one day at a time in Southeast Texas. She is the author of Upon the Blue Couch (Winter Goose Publishing, 2014) and Hello It's Your Mother (Finishing Line Press, October 2015). Recent publications include the 2015 Poet's Market, Scissors & Spackle, and North Dakota Quarterly, among others. Learn more about Laurie at http://lauriekolp.com.