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Counting by Twos'
by M.J. Iuppa
A woman wishing to avoid conception would place
as many fingers in a child's first bath water as
she desired years free of pregnancy
‐Serbian Folk Tradition
You were not yet two weeks old
The umbilical stump curled
back on itself drying
It detached simply but
this did not separate us
The first bath was private
I immersed you
in lukewarm water and watched
your strong frog kicks‐I watched
what I had felt
and chose to dip two fingers
in your bath‐to be free
for each other‐
Your small hands clutching my fingers
First published in Rhino, and appears in the
chapbook Temptations (Foothills Publishing 2001).
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