As he turns eight
I hope he’ll never know
all of the meaning imbued in him:
the thing that chains me to you for the next decade;
the unexpected irony that kept us together 
while simultaneously, definitively, driving us apart.
I hope he’ll only remember 
separate homes and shared time 
being the June Gemini baby
to a mother who couldn’t handle the heat
but loved him with all the fire in her heart.
 
6/7/26