We arrive with our eggs
carried like loose change
until time and sperm meet
and a baby grows where
nothing has lived before.
We cast the best eggs first
save lesser ones for later
like unmarried daughters
spinster cells - homely but
good at housekeeping.
The price for children is pain
mental and physical.
Childbirth is the well-kept secret
of forcing a bowling ball
through a buttonhole.
Unmentioned too are cramps which
yield only to tub, hot pad
or drugs - the feeling of one’s
innards being yanked out
like a dropped transmission.
And Lizzie Borden days when PMS
changes our minds to war zones.
Anger and profanity replace finer
feeling and a flat tire is reason
to call the suicide hotline.
Did I choose the wrong gender?
I wonder until 20 hours in
when they hand me you, made in me.
A miracle to erase
the memory of pain.
Published by
Cynthia M. Sheward
Cynthia Sheward has written poetry since she was a child. She was born in Massachusetts but spent her young life in New Jersey. She applied her English degree from Arcadia University teaching junior-senior high school in Vermont the 70’s. In the 80s, she and her husband built their own house with their own hands in the mountains of North Carolina. In the 90s, she returned to NJ where she worked for a Fortune 500 corporation until her retirement.
Her work has been published in Friends Journal, Evening Street, the Bennington Banner, Fiber Arts Magazine, the Mountain Times and various other print media.
She currently resides in Jupiter, Florida.
View all posts by Cynthia M. Sheward
A WELL TRAVELED HEART 
This expresses so well the pain and joy of mother-hood. As I grow older, the joy of having grown children and grandchildren makes the experience all the sweeter.
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I love it Cindy so true to life.
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I love all your poems, Cindy! This one in particular touched me. ❤️
Love, Jill
On Wed, Jun 3, 2020 at 9:40 AM A WELL-TRAVELED HEART wrote:
> Cynthia M. Sheward posted: ” We arrive with all our eggs carried like > loose change until time and sperm meet and a baby grows where nothing has > lived before. We cast the best eggs first save lesser ones for later like > unmarried daughters spinster cells – homely but good at ho” >
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Thank you, Jill.
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Thank you, Suze.
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Thank you. Children and grandchildren are our riches.
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