The Family, One Week Old

The parents, as if clubbed between the eyes

But with no memory of it, regard the infant

Who has no self-regard and none for them.

It gazes into the world and shits:

It will not be so independent again

Until old age. Where did the baby come from?

La la, mother sings.

Father has it on his forearm, king;

Baby swims, no fear of falling.

Self-forgetfulness means one has a self to forget

Grown big and bruised as a pear. What joy

When it disappears!