Change.

(for Zoe Eszter Green)

There was never any thought of you

No idea of what I was getting into

But to save a marriage I went against

My instincts and followed through

It was twelve weeks in when your mother

Was diagnosed with breast cancer

We had to wait until the second

Trimester for her to undergo surgery

You lay safe in her tummy

Unaware of the emergency

Then she went back to work too soon

And caught a multi-resistant bug

That put her in a coma

And defied antibacterial drugs

It was touch and go

A doctor confiding to me

That if not for the Gentamicin shot

She would be dead

Your mother decided not to go back

To work which was wise

But when she went into labour

Came the third surprise

An emergency C section

To save both your lives

You were pulled gruel grey

And wet and clearly unhappy

Like a puppet above the gauze

But as soon as you touched mum's chest

You sought what boob was left

And I was amazed at all the suicides

Because life finds a way

It is encoded in our DNA

Just as being a dad

Must have been jolted within me

While your mum tried to bleed out on the table

I was ushered into a room

You wrapped in a blanket

And I sang to you for two hours

Waiting to hear the news

Until your mother was wheeled in, alive

Barely, and you reconnect to the boob

I sat by, watching the bonding as

The nurse stood by, busy but charitable
We took you home, the caring begun
Each day a joy of life tightly won

We shut ourselves off from change

But like death and taxes, it is inevitable.

© shaun patrick green 2019