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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19 Jan 2026

The moon was not her destination. It was a sentence.
the black fairy in the village sold her a dime for a nickel
After visits from the Whale, when the Lifemaker retreats to his chambers, Lúcio swims to the aquarium by the window, where he and Olga watch the fish fly by.
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