WOMB TO WORLD

- Anisha Bhattacharya

Pic for Representation purpose

Encased in a fluid filled sac,

Tossing and turning,

Floating and kicking,

Drinking my own wee wee,

Its been nine months now.

I can't see but I can hear.

I can hear the musical voice of my mother,

As she reads me stories and sings me lullabies,

Oh what a treat her voice is to the ear.

She tells me stories of the kings and queens,

Stories of her childhood spent in distant lands,

The colours of the rainbow and how the rain feels,

Its beauty I can only imagine!

At times,I feel the warmth of two hands on me,

Mamma says its my pop pop,

They mostly discuss the names they'd gift me,

And quarrels over whether I'd be a lad or a lady,

I already know my name by now,

But to them, my gender stays unrevealed. ;)

I am so happy today as I come down,

I can't play here like the other days,

But they say I am going to be out,

Out in the open where I'll finally breathe,

I'll see the things that I have always dreamt of,

And know what colours mean.

My mamma is shouting in what she calls 'pain',

I don't know what that means,

She never mentioned 'pain' in her stories,

But I don't feel the calm in her voice anymore today.

And as I am thinking all of these,

I try to move my head a bit,

And suddenly the big balloon of water around me breaks,

I'm scared now as I collide to something hard,

I feel like being on a roller coaster ride.

But then I feel something soft over my head,

Maybe someone's hands on it,

And then as I try to open my eyes,

I see a spark too bright.

Oh is that what my mamma calls light?

I open my mouth and breathe in a huge gulp of air,

I finally know what my nostrils are for,

I finally learn how to cry,

And then I see everyone around me smile.

They show me to my mother,

And I get to see her too,

Those red cheeks and the wide grin,

Her welcoming eyes and her glowing skin,

Oh what a beauty she is,I think

As the nurse slowly makes me clean.