First published in Mutha magazine in October 2022

Five Answers to the Same Question                             After Faisal Mohyuddin

He hasn’t heard from his first mom

It’s been years. 

2.

He loves to explore underwater

Worlds under our world

Thousands of sunken slave ships.  

3.

We tried for years to get pregnant

But stopped short at engineering

Waited for a woman to find us.

4.

He loves every sport with a ball

He has endless social energy 

He didn’t get this from us. 

5.

We are the lucky ones. 

His first mom carried him 

They both carry the loss.