Before we knew
anything at all about sex
we knew
all about our birth
stories.
Our Mam
would recall & regale us all
(setting the table...peeling spuds...sweeping out the hall)
with the intimate
details
of all
our births.
“Tell us of US again...Mam...tell of us again! ”
I was small
(2lbs 2 ounces)
hardly anything
at all.
A mere scrap of
human being.
Blathin Ashling
was even smaller
(1 lb something or other)
...a little miracle.
Was it Deirdre
with the cord wrapped
around her neck
fighting both
Life & Death
‘til she was blue
In the face
Or Grainne
with the cord so thin
she was born just in
the nick of time
& the cord(just a hair’s
breath)
floats eternally now
(in a glass of formaldehyde  still)
for doctors to astonish
& marvel at.
And how
there being no incubators
when I came into being
they had to wrap
me up
in cotton wool
(as if I were a
precious thing)
in order to keep
me warm
but I wasn’t having
any of it
kicking my way
out of the stuff
only for them
to repackage
me again!
And again...& again.
And here(in 1956)
I arrive on the scene
tip toeing out into
Life
with cool coal black
full length sideburns
ready to rock
& roll man
as the labour ward radio
played
the hit
of the day
“CE SERA...SERA! ”
It’s almost as if
I can still hear
Doris singing
our whatevers
will bes.
Our birth
story
each our
first fairy story
& we
the Prince & Princesses
of it
all.