Tag Archives: c-section

JOAN TRUEMAN: Aching

They had to cut me to take you.

I heard your cry fade down the hallway.

It haunts me nightly.

I bought you cards every birthday, not knowing if I should buy for a son or daughter.

You are fifty years old today.

I still crave my beautiful bastard baby.

Joan is an educator in Australia who loves the beauty of language.

When Hayley and Greg were little, they played Make-Believe.

First, they pretended to get married.

Second, they pretended Hayley was pregnant, though they didn’t know how it happened.

Third, Greg did an emergency Caesarean-section on Hayley with a steak knife.

When they grew up, they did it all for real.