Emily Patterson

After Two Years, the Midwife Explains

pre{eclampsia—a condition comparable
to milk fever
in cows and dogs}

which explains
how my blood soared in the days after
as drops of milk rivered

how my fingers blushed and bore
red rings, even after
the silver was cut from my hand

{from the Greek éklampsis, 
a violent onset} which explains
the lack of time—

{pre-, as in earlier than}
—the body no longer safe
to hold another’s

which explains three centimeters
to nine {eklámpein,
to burst forth}

the suddenness of dark
to dawn {lámpein,
to shine out}

the bloom of my daughter’s night-
blue eyes bearing so much
light

which might explain, I don’t say,
how the body glows
{even now}

Emily Patterson (Instagram: @emilypattersonpoet) is the author of So Much Tending Remains (2022) and To Bend and Braid (2023). Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and appears or is forthcoming in Rust & Moth, SWWIM Every Day, CALYX, Mom Egg Review, West Trade Review, Literary Mama, Thimble, Minerva Rising, and elsewhere. Emily holds a B.A. in English from Ohio Wesleyan University, where she received the Marie Drennan Prize for Poetry, and an M.A. in Education from Ohio State University. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her family and works as a curriculum designer. Her favorite sweet is chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.