Size / / /

I'd do the diapers.

Using formula would be a blow,

I will admit, but I'll make do

with Einstein videos

to keep the child's IQ up.

Just let me have a baby.

I'm not the type of man

who needs a son,

testosterone dictating

that my genes be writ

into posterity. Fatherhood

is what I crave, training wheels,

bandaids, burnt meatloaf,

and the chance to change one life

in ways my own was not.

Just let me have the baby.

I'll do anything, make gold

from straw, give up my name

three times.

I know so many lullabies.

Just let me hold it, once.




Mary Alexandra Agner writes of dead women, telescopes, and secrets. Her poetry, stories, and nonfiction have appeared in The Cascadia Subduction ZoneShenandoah, and Sky & Telescope, respectively. She can be found online at http://www.pantoum.org.
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18 Nov 2024

Your distress signals are understood
Somehow we’re now Harold Lloyd/Jackie Chan, letting go of the minute hand
It was always a beautiful day on April 22, 1952.
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Little Lila by Susannah Rand, read by Claire McNerney. Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast: Spotify
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