for Sarah
We begin at the wicker lounge chair,
B’s first big tooth cutting, but grin goofy
she walks me to the kitchen & back, steps unsteady
round & round her dimpled knuckles squeeze my finger
while you drink the care I brought: a medium Chai latte.
On Fridays, we start water for tea, forget
about it, heat the kettle again. I place teabags in generous mugs,
join you on your blue couch. You set up another episode
of Virgin River. We’re only watching for the scenery,
the plot has lost us. We teach B these chronic motherlines:
what it means to give word to the ways our bodies don’t listen,
what books helped our brains come out of fog,
& while she learns to walk, determined to carry herself,
we’re there in case she tumbles.
We build care-cells to pass down by bringing over
cauliflower korma after your text:
I’m overwhelmed & parenting alone tonight.
On Fridays, we exchange adjectives for one another:
cranky, clever, chaotic, crybaby. The silliness of the act
imbues the air with our continuity. B asleep beside us,
the kettle whistles once more.
Photo credit: Ali Lauren Creative Services
Tea Gerbeza is the author of How I Bend Into More (Palimpsest Press, 2025), which was a finalist for the Writers’ Trust 2025 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for 2SLGBTQ+ emerging writers. She is a neuroqueer disabled writer and multimedia artist with a very loud laugh. You can find them on instagram @poetgerby. Find out more on teagerbeza.com.
