Lucky

I’m breastfeeding a chubby and giggly baby whose

name I do not recall. I can barely support her weight

on my chest. Sweat pools in my hands and elbows.

While I was away on a fellowship in Germany,

the baby had two mothers. I did not remember her.

I traveled to London and Spain. When I returned,

the nursing mother brought her home and said

she’d received the baby from another mother.

I resumed breastfeeding and was afraid she’d bite my

nipples with her sharp, erupting teeth. Even reject me.

She rubbed her mouth on my breasts, her gentle

breathing caressing them before suckling. It felt

strange at first, but later, I began to like it.

She accepted my milk and love as though she had

no memory of being nursed by someone else.

As she fed contentedly, I looked at her flushed

face and envied her. Only two years,

and blessed with three mothers. Lucky girl!

Mildred Kiconco Barya is a North Carolina-based writer and poet of East African descent. She teaches and lectures globally, and is the author of four full-length poetry collections, most recently The Animals of My Earth School published by Terrapin Books, 2023. Her prose, hybrids, and poems have appeared in New England Review, Shenandoah, Joyland, The Cincinnati Review, Tin House, Forge, and elsewhere. She’s now working on a collection of creative nonfiction, and her essay, “Being Here in This Body”, won the 2020 Linda Flowers Literary Award and is published in the North Carolina Literary Review. She serves on the boards of African Writers Trust, Story Parlor, and coordinates the Poetrio Reading events at Malaprop’s Independent Bookstore/Café. She blogs here: www.mildredbarya.com

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