A spoken-word poem by Ana María Caballero. Written in her signature straightforward style, this text forms part of her prize-winning book MAMMAL.
Caballero is a recipient of the Steel Toe Books 2022 Poetry Prize, the Beverly International Prize , and Colombia’s National José Manuel Arango Prize. Her writing, which has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, a Best of the Net, and been a finalist for the Academy of American Poets Prize, rips the veil off romanticized motherhood and questions notions that package female sacrifice as a virtue. Much of what she writes can be read at anamariacaballero.com.
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First Born
How am I supposed to sleep
when I give birth tomorrow?
Rest now
because you will never
sleep again,
the erstwhile
pregnant mothers claim.
Never shall I state
such a fruitless thing
to a woman swelling life
with this newness
who gets hungry
and has a cry
at night.
