lines

I awoke this morning with an ache in my pelvis 

And now I fear that I am pregnant
We are careful

I’m on the pill

But it has happened that way before

I believe that I am a good mother to our three children
I do not believe I can be good to four

I am trusting that the pain is only the Great Dam in my body

The one which puddles all of my mystic blood
until it is time to release it
through a fleshy riverbed
into my white lace underwear

down my startling thighs

Please
let it only be an excessive volume of blood

waiting to be liberated
Please
do not let it be a glowing child

I ask my husband:
Do you ever wake up fearing you’re pregnant?
He answers:
no
And this is where every woman’s poem begins