| ZYGOTE IN MY COFFEE.COM |
| ***BIO*** Jayne Pupek holds an MA in counseling psychology and has spent most of her professional life in the field of mental health. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous print and online literary journals. Her work has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Jayne is the author of one book of poems, Forms of Intercession (forthcoming from Mayapple Press in January, 2008) and two chapbooks: Local Girls (DeadMule, 2007) and Primitive (Pudding House Press, 2004). Her first novel, Tomato Girl, will be published by Algonquin Books in the fall of 2008. She resides near Richmond, VA . http://jaynepupek.blogspot.com |
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| © 2008 zygoteinmycoffee Ink. |
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| Inside The Ward |
| by Jayne Pupek |
| Held under water, the baby can't breathe.
What have you done, Mrs. Morgan? Trusting my own judgment doesn't come easily. Recurrent dream: I walk tracks, afraid to lie down, fall asleep, not hear the train. I wake to limbs clipped at the root: white bone, seared skin. The baby will not stop crying. In the hospital, I glue Popsicle sticks to the back of a catatonic and play him like a xylophone. Last week, my mother found an old doll who cried when left on her back. I wrapped the baby's face in cellophane, waited to see her turn blue. Each time my therapist nods, the sky lowers a notch. Did I sign on for this? The heavens fall like a botched perm. Don't let the cherub float. Lucy tethered to the next bed assures me nothing happens without a reason. This from a woman who loses Tuesday's checkers and masturbates for the blind orderly. I brought the suffocated baby to my last session. That I wanted to poke holes in the cellophane roused hope. My instinct to nurture makes my case worker smile. Her approval causes my flat breasts to fill with milk. |
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| Mar. 2008 |
| 103 |