Too Soon Tanka

1.

sleep found me last night
soaked in slumber depths of black
it didn’t warn me
of the dull ache on waking
or the fate of the harsh sun

2.

strobe glare of morning
tightened eyes stretching with squint
mirrors my belly
life inside still there and yet
not the same as yesterday

3.

noon light is unsure
ringtone wait with steady breath
come and check they say
it’s probably nothing much
light shifts as a womb contracts

4.

late afternoon sky
the questions stir deep in me
I realise now
the sunlight is fading fast
charcoal shadows encroaching

5.

taken up in clouds
through a helicopter night
the life I knew below
pregnancy weeks now darkness
twenty-four is all we got

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Kathryn Saunders lives on a farm in the Manawatu with her husband and four children. She teaches at the local school, and hopes to one day write for children and use her own work in her teaching role.