One of the great things about writing alongside my mentee has been feeling free to experiment with new forms—and to think about the future. As my friends start to have children, I think about new generations and what it means to decide to bring a human being into the world.
The vertiginous headlong
making of a human being.
When do you decide?
Is it now?
Is it now?
Is it now?
Is this the moment that changes all?
Maybe now was the moment
And now it’s gone by.
Maybe then was the moment
It will always be gone.
Maybe soon is the moment
It will never arrive.
The catapulting-into-unknowingness
Making of a human being
The breaking of a human life
into then and now.
You can’t undo
You can only do
And into the space you didn’t know was vacant
Bring a person whose name,
spoken at the chosen moment,
will always have the power
to shatter you.