3am

by Heather Carnaghan

She stopped kicking.

Just like that
her elbows and knees
paused their nine month
assault on my organs.

I drank honey
to coax her to dance
and ice water,
               was that a shiver...?

My swollen belly
was leaden,
heavy with the death
my heart
made me blind
to see.


I drove on
with hope,
a phone,
and three car seats
in the back seat
of my tiny Hyundai Accent.