The moment

when little person pops out

of wife's undercarriage

is so quick.

Nature is so slick,

the drop of a jaw,

no more

and it's done -

a life has begun.

 

It's too fast

The moment should last.

I want to hold the moment,

examine it this way and that,

feel it for all it incredibly is.

 

But rather than hold the moment

I hold my wife

and that is a moment too.

 

And then in another moment

I hold the tiny baby,

the biggest fact in the world,

and realise that I

(good old peaceful me)

have changed in a moment

and could kill anyone

who tried to harm her.

 

Can I add that this is about the precise moment of birth, from a male point of view. To head off missiles from any mums out there, I fully realize that 9 months is a very long time, especially if it’s hot later on, and that childbirth itself can be long and difficult and that we men know nothing about pain (well, not very much).