November ‘25

I Remember Havens

I remember the comfort of her lap

  the tender nest of her chest

  the wrap of her arms holding me safe

  against her beating heart,

  a familiar refrain I knew from her womb.

I remember the strength of his arms

  lifting me high in the sky

  to his broad shoulder, where my cheek

  toggled as he carried me at day’s end

  to lay me down upon my bed.

In my body here on this crisp autumn night,

  windows breathing cool refreshment,

  I coil my heat beneath a weighted chamber of

  cotton and fleece pulled up to that once young cheek,

  and curl into a womb of bed.

My body remembers the soft lap and firm shoulders

    when I fold into fetal form, find cuddly rest

    and rock myself to sleep

    lullabied by thoughts

    of all the havens that have held me.