Motherhood
Before she readies herself,
the woman smooths skin-colored
color on her new baby’s forehead,
nose, cheeks, jaw, chin, neck.
She blends and contours, then
the woman brushes rouge
on her new baby’s cheeks
until they appear to burn.
The woman dabs pink gloss
across her new baby’s lips
like they will never chap
or kiss or utter a foul word.
The woman traces her new
baby’s lips with rosepink pencil
until no cry could possibly
escape them.
Just as no words form on the woman’s
lips as she paints the color of frost
above her new baby’s eyes so that,
when they open, they will shine.
The woman outlines her new baby’s
eyes with sharpened charcoal,
adding a flourish at the corner
of each.
The woman spritzes hairspray
on her new baby’s wisps. Now,
now, whether they leave the house
or not, the woman is ready.
Megan Wildhood
Megan Wildhood is a cyclist, saxophonist, gym enthusiast, cat lover and writer whose work has appeared in her poetry chapbook Long Division (Finishing Line Press, 2017), her full-length poetry collection Bowed As If Laden With Snow (Cornerstone Press, 2023), as well as in Mad in America, The Sun and elsewhere. You can learn more about her at meganwildhood.com.
