[Header Photo by Johann Walter Bantz on Unsplash]

already exhausted
carrying your child

through the parking lot
just before sunrise

frost heavy on car windshields
as you feel yourself sweating

•

your toddler raises their arms
for you to carry them

i am tired too you say
you can walk by yourself

•

and then one day you realize
you haven’t carried your child

in several days at least
maybe even a few weeks

•

and then you realize
you’ll never carry your child again

—P.L. Thomas