post/partum

nine months

an academic year, and yet

i apparently learned nothing

because i did it

twice.

playing host

to a parasite, unable

to survive

in the wild. a growth

nourished and

nurtured and

fractured somehow.

our symbiosis shattered,

and i lose myself in the wake.

the line between you and

me is blurred at best.

even from outside my body

you remain a part of me,

identity falters, replaced

by a love that neither

bends nor breaks.

first words,

first steps,

new meds,

more steps on

the road to normalcy.

never back to

who i was before, but maybe

that’s ok.