Newborn

The waiting was breath
held underwater,
the longing was a crushing
ocean wave,
and the scalpel cut
was the sharpness of moonlight
at the end of a stormy day.

Now his smile carves deep
into my ribcage,
his fingers worm paths
under my skin,
and the smell of his head
is fresh-baked bread
that I crave to breathe in.

He is a parcel of spring sunshine,
his eyes are planets
in my universe,
and his lips are ripples
in the expanse of my heart,
the secrets and silent words
that bind us.

Kim M. Russell, 2018

Image result for stock paintings and drawings of newborn baby
Baby by J-E-M on deviantART – stock image found on Pinterest

My poem for Poets United Poetry Pantry #396, also linked to dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night two days before my grandson’s third birthday. Doesn’t time fly? 

Mary is happy to remind us that we are officially in the season of spring, the season of hope and rebirth, and hopes that it is spring-like everywhere. My poem follows on from the epistolary poem I wrote before my grandson was born. 

91 thoughts on “Newborn”

  2. This is my favorite from you, Kim!😍 The anticipation and happiness is palpable as you await the birth of your grandson. And may I add that he’s absolutely adorable!💖 So happy for you! 😊

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  3. A banquet of imagery that hold the taste of life and living. The first line feeds us pure urgency, an almost hunger that is satiated by that perfect end. And by the lovely photo. Love this. Love this so much. 🙂

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  5. What a beautiful poem of birth and of love! I like ‘the waiting was breath held underwater.’ Indeed, a newborn is ‘a parcel of spring sunshine’ and brings into the world with him hope and a multitude of possibilities!

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    1. Thank you, Mary. Poor Ellen was in hospital from Saturday morning until Wednesday, the day after the c-section. She’d had enough of the constant interruptions and monitoring, so she came home to get some peace and quiet and try to feed Lucas. Apart from a few problems with feeding and sleeping, which we hope will be resolved with cranial osteopathy, they are all doing very well. He’s made my year!

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  26. Lucas! Oh gosh, yes! 😀 I remember like it was yesterday, Kim! I was overjoyed upon seeing the pictures on Facebook 💝 he is definitely a “parcel of spring sunshine,” and his eyes speak volumes! I hope you are reunited with him soon, for now we shall make do with him opening presents on video chat 🙂
    xoxoxo

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  29. The first stanza takes my breath away. Birth as going under a wave and as a person who went under the knife twice to give birth this description is just exquisite. Even fresh baked bread (wonderful) can’t fully describe that smell, those first moments of life.

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    1. Thank you so much! I’m so glad I got there in time, to be the first person to meet him other than his parents. He is growing up so quickly, though, and I am missing so much because of the pandemic.

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      1. Yes, I am missing my parents, sisters, friends.Not the same as a baby, I know, as they change so quickly. I’ve been in Germany since 2019, so we are coming up on two years of not seeing family. It’s taken its toll on me, for sure. Let’s hope for many reunions soon.

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      2. Where in Germany are you? I lived in Cologne in the seventies and only left because my husband decided to move back to Ireland.

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      3. Hi Kim, I’m in Munich. I teach at English/Reading at an International School here. I haven’t visited Cologne, but haven’t really visited that many places because of the pandemic. I love Ireland. Hope things are going well there.

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  36. A lovely celebratory write – I was worried at the start in that suffocating sharp blade of a first stanza – and that wound in the second but from there the poem flowered into a sensual delight – the smell of his head, his lips and in the last the love that’s a secret between mother and child.

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