You’re only given the title
“new mother”
for a few months
which is absurd
because even though
you now have a baby
you’ve never had a toddler before,
which is when you will feel new
all over again.
Just as now
I’m a new mother again
as I find my way
for the first time
with a tween
and so it goes,
the constant foraging of parenthood
into new terrains
which is why this year
on my birthday
I bought my mom
a “new mother” greeting card
since I am her only child
it’s my nod to her road ahead
of parenting a strong-willed
forty-seven-year-old woman
for the very first time.