Three more from Natasha

i am stone

sickness creeps in
hiding in harmless
everyday sounds
showing innocent
eyes, bagged and
dusky, mussed and
sweated hair
i encourage silence
and feel the stone
i am revolving
face back to face
my new status.

--
unsettled insides

burgeoning belly
threatening to
devour my small frame

insides changed
crammed into new
shapes and places

there is room
for movement of
only one

it will have its space
unable to give thought
to my discomfort

it can only grow
evolve at high-speed
and emerge

leaving my insides
to resettle as best
they can.

--

3 a.m.

nearly time for the alarm
he awakes, and so do i
at the feel of a small
body crossing me,
thirty pounds on my chest.
he finds what he seeks
milkfruit pale in the
half-light we burn at night.
a moment of white fire,
then the dull ache that
reminds me there will
soon be another.
i wait. when i cannot
endure longer, i remove
his soft weight. he
has no use for the
small cold mattress to
my left, so i send
him right, into
the center of our warmth.
i watch his face, waiting
for the first call of time.
his eyes, half open, are on
me. i match his gaze and my
eyes drift shut. and then
his hands find my face
softly, and he gives me
the greatest reward- a tiny
sleepy kiss on my
forehead. my heart melts again.