Instant Maternity

Baby girl asleep in her crib
In pink and soft cotton
An organic promise
A new beginning
A blank slate
The world before her
Everything a possibility
Every single thing
No mistakes yet
See her in all her perfectness
Ten fingers and ten toes
One samosa-like nose
Every part working miraculously
All by itself

And I think of the men in her life that will give her pain
All the people out there that are just waiting to do her harm

And I suddenly just...
...feel so mad

I feel SO mad
My eyes get so hot
My throat so tight
Dry
My limbs so cold
I just know I could kill the person that hurts her
I could do it right now
Slice the person who treats her less than she is
And makes her believe she deserves it

My first little niece
A brand new chance for good things
We'll do this right
Never a tear in her eyes
Never a grief in her heart
Never a reason to doubt herself
She wouldn't
If she could see what I saw in her crib today