The Uncounted
“How many children do you have?”, I sigh, and agree within myself
7-28-61 DC © Laura Bobbitt May 99
they ask. An innocent,
everyday question.
“Three,” I respond,
half expecting them
to hear my heart
correcting my mouth.
“No. Four.”
that really, it isn’t a lie.
The uncounted one,
the denied one,
is not a child that I have.
He was never mine to keep.
Another woman counts him now.
I only grew him.
I never knew him.
He’s gone.