Birth Remembrances
A poem by Michael Peck
I was born a winged thing
a bird who left the nest – with only one possession – the will to survive – the innate
ability to know that which would kill me and that which would help me on my way
toward my unknown future – I left the nest early – it fell from the tree – I was wrapped in
white hospital baby blankets with a hundred nurse mothers cooing and holding me – I
loved those women and they loved me, just on their shift – then they went home to their
own children or practiced the mating rites with those who might become fathers – I
didn’t know or care – I discovered that I belonged to all of them and yet no one – that
colored my life with the love of women – those passing through my life gently stroking
me with their tenderness or their mind and then moving on – the gentle progression of
humanness which bore no nametags – no signed papers of ownership or contract for
the future – I was a leaf blowing in the wind – tumbling toward the unseen horizon of
the future – my father's were stuck in the first letters of the alphabet – attraction, fun,
procreation – they had not reached the R's, responsibility – they were not that kind –
they were codependents who would mimic commitment like street mimes without really
taking on that role – so I walked out on my history of origin – flying my own way in the
joyous wind which caught in my wings – the laughter in the tears of new lands – new
people – laid a foundation in my brain – in recesses of my heart –. that we are all the
same allowing forgiveness and acceptance to relieve the stiffness and pain – I
watched renewed the play of life before me without commercials – without the need to
own it or its multitude of mirages coming and going – just like the nurses in my
childhood had other places to go – giving me that momentary comfort which ignites the
fire in the back of my eyes that makes them glow
a bird who left the nest – with only one possession – the will to survive – the innate
ability to know that which would kill me and that which would help me on my way
toward my unknown future – I left the nest early – it fell from the tree – I was wrapped in
white hospital baby blankets with a hundred nurse mothers cooing and holding me – I
loved those women and they loved me, just on their shift – then they went home to their
own children or practiced the mating rites with those who might become fathers – I
didn’t know or care – I discovered that I belonged to all of them and yet no one – that
colored my life with the love of women – those passing through my life gently stroking
me with their tenderness or their mind and then moving on – the gentle progression of
humanness which bore no nametags – no signed papers of ownership or contract for
the future – I was a leaf blowing in the wind – tumbling toward the unseen horizon of
the future – my father's were stuck in the first letters of the alphabet – attraction, fun,
procreation – they had not reached the R's, responsibility – they were not that kind –
they were codependents who would mimic commitment like street mimes without really
taking on that role – so I walked out on my history of origin – flying my own way in the
joyous wind which caught in my wings – the laughter in the tears of new lands – new
people – laid a foundation in my brain – in recesses of my heart –. that we are all the
same allowing forgiveness and acceptance to relieve the stiffness and pain – I
watched renewed the play of life before me without commercials – without the need to
own it or its multitude of mirages coming and going – just like the nurses in my
childhood had other places to go – giving me that momentary comfort which ignites the
fire in the back of my eyes that makes them glow
Michael Peck is a graduate of the University of Utah in English. He's been a mediator, negotiator, and painter. He is a gregarious loner who loves the desert solitude and its stark beauty. Writing and reading are natural pastimes for him living in the middle of the desert. He's been in love with reading and writing since he was a child. He thinks that gives him the solace and acceptance of himself to enjoy living away from the city.