David Thompson

division

And here is another one
the forgetting’s extraordinary
the way the head flops
and we’re thrown back onto
worn through concerns
old as scar tissue
fresh as a purpling bruise

like over kneaded dough
known routines won’t work
this is not a duplication
more a division of cells
a mutation not visible
to the bleary-eyed

we find ourselves reverting
to work eat don’t sleep
repeat
pushing the same pram
up and down pavements
in search of a dipped kerb

David Thompson is a poet from Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire. His work has featured in magazines and anthologies such as Atrium, Dream Catcher, Magma and Under the Radar.

David wrote the following about his poem:

Being a parent is intense.  A week can seem like an era as you struggle with the latest challenge presented by your child.  And then, it's overcome — they sleep or eat or whatever the trouble was — and it's forgotten, you move on to the next hurdle.  People say that the second child is easier, you've done it before, but in so many ways it is also brand-new.  I tried to capture a part of that in this poem.