understory (week 35)
“she’s kicking”
nālani says
holds my
hands against
her belly
so warm!
chicken broth
boils in
the crockpot
bones turn
in briny
liquid—baby
kicks again
can she
feel my
body heat?
magma rises
water into
steam—Kīlauea
drill, turbine
Mauna Loa
grid, undersea
cables—is
geothermal safe?
baby’s so
active tonight
nālani presses
my palms
deeper into
this skin
drum e
Pele e
Copyright @ 2014 by Craig Santos Perez. Used with permission of the author. This poem appeared in Poem-a-Day on July 22, 2014.