First Pregnancy Poem by Donatien Moisdon

Yesterday, Summer house amused in a tempest,
Now a ruin, Annie, Irene or Emily.

Yesterday smart vessel riding a frosty crest
And now a limping shell with tired, torn up sails.

Yesterday a woman unconquered, glorious,
Now decadent and subservient to a foetus.

You bartered all the gold of your early decades
For a shrieking baby pissing against your chest.

How beautiful you were, Elizabeth, Emma!

You placed your bet on the green baize of life's roulette.

You wanted an offspring and now you wilt away.