{        
                        site_name: 'Poetry 180',         
                        subscribe_url:'/share/sites/Bapu4ruC/poetry.php'      
                    }

This poem expresses a mother's joy at giving birth.

Birth Day

For Alexandra, born May 17, 1999

Elise Paschen

Armored in red, her voice commands
every corner. Bells gong on squares,
in steeples, answering the prayers.
Bright tulips crown the boulevards.

Pulled from the womb she imitates
that mythic kick from some god's head.
She roars, and we are conquered.
Her legs, set free, combat the air.

Naked warrior: she is our own.
Entire empires are overthrown.

from Birthday Poems: A Celebration, 2002
Thunder's Mouth Press, New York, NY