We are bigger when we’re born,
but the past is not a prologue.
When we first get into the world,
every last thing is otherworldly.
Makes you wonder where we came from.
But then, maybe before we get to the middle of our allotted time,
with our hair in knots and the wash on our hip,
and a permanent ache in our joints, this all becomes it all:
it’s our kids turn to momentarily wild-eye the world.
Makes us begrudge where we are.
We get to the point where our future
is present, where we can see the future
as forming and reforming
(washing and rewashing) the past.
And yet, we cannot help but grieve where our kids will be.
Megan Wildhood is a neurodiverse writer from Colorado who believes that freedom of expression is necessary for a society that is not only safe but flourishing. She helps her readers feel seen in her poetry chapbook Long Division (Finishing Line Press, 2017) as well as Yes! Magazine, Mad in America, The Sun and, increasingly, less captured media outlets. You can learn more at meganwildhood.com.