Nine Months

Instinct begins here
we sense everything around us
the slight inflection in your voice
the twinkle in your eye

Development begins here
surrounded in warmth and life
the book read to us in utero
nourishment from umbilical

Parts of us speak quietly to the other
building all of our different organs
that somehow come together as one
whispering inaudible direction
where to build
what to grow
where is your heart
how long is your nose

In the first part of the journey the words are
faint, and laced with pain
but in four months, there is a change
and we are suddenly assembled
like the first words that lead us out of autistic haze
or a strange and mysterious secret symbol
That we can see in the sky
and in the darkness
and when we close our eyes

And say goodbye
As a gloved hand spanks us
into a new life