Thirty-eight years ago
I made my debut
Your lives resetting yet again
My arrival
A new beginning for you
Your second child
But only daughter
It was spring and the moon was waxing
Hours of painstaking labor later
I was born crying
As the moon grew
Your world did too
Another miracle in el hospital La Milagrosa
The same building where two years earlier
Upon taking his first breath
Your firstborn son breathed new life into you
Mami
You had been a daughter to a mother
Did my presence revive the little girl lying dormant inside your heart?
Now you were a mother to a daughter
Was I a second chance to recreate a childhood from which you had parted?
Papi
You declared me your “baby joy”
Did I have you wrapped around my tiny finger like all little girls are said to?
Did I complete a reincarnation of you and tía?
Your son now gifted with a little sister to love and protect
too
If we are said to be reborn with each day
If I am a continuation of you
Mami
Was that day not also your birthday
too?
Papi, was that day not also your birthday
too?
On my 38th orbit around the sun
A new ellipse beginning to form
I also celebrate both of you
A marker of that fateful moment
We were all born anew
Joelle Hervis is a Dominican-American writer based out of South Florida. She is a communications professional by trade and poet at heart. Through her personal writing, Joelle explores the human condition through meaningful themes in her life, including cultural identity, womanhood, love, grief, and family.
She can be found professing her love for books and all things literature on her Instagram account @LiteraryJoelle.
