Between Bruises and Blooms

At 7:51,
I heard the cry
That made me a mother
All over again.

Tiny.
Bald.
Perfect.

I held Isabella
While the room hurried
Around us.

Then her sister
Decided she had
Her own plans.

One tiny arm
Reached where it shouldn’t,
And suddenly
The birth I imagined
Became the birth
We needed.

An operating room.

Bright lights.

Hands moving quickly.

Pain that grew
Too heavy to carry.

I kissed one daughter
While another
Waited to be born.

At 8:24,
Gabriella
Found her way
Into the world.

Thirty-three minutes.

That’s all that separated
Two sisters.

Yet somehow,
My heart found room
For both
In the very same breath.