Welcome Home and Other Poems
Photo Courtesy | Chelsy Meyer
BY CHELSY MEYER
Welcome Home
It seems impossible now
That you emerged from my body
This small, creamy baby
A small piece of my soul
Who screamed upon your entry to this world
But stopped once you entered my arms
Like you knew
You were home
And I knew it, too.
I didn’t realize how much I need that
The feeling of being a safe place
And to be yours was far too perfect
It was unsettling
To feel too whole
Too happy
Like it would be ripped from me
So I held you
Ready to mold you into my chest
Trying my best to feel that moment
To soak it in
Because it felt like it would be taken.
I still look at you
And I can’t believe
I’ve done something so miraculous
So preposterous
So unfathomable
But here you are
This perfect thing
That smiles when I smile
And still feels the most comfortable
In my arms that you call home.
Impact
I feel it behind my ears
A pressure in my head
Down my neck
In my tendons
Through my shoulders
Tight
Wound up
It aches
The worry
The anxieties
The feeling of danger
But nothing is happening
But it might
Any moment
My body is always waiting for it
For something to happen to you
It’s an exhausting feeling
To always be braced for impact
That will hopefully never come
Overflowing
Tears fill my cheeks
And spill down
Because I’m too full
Too full of love
Too confused
Too scared
Like a glass
Under a running faucet.
My body is torn
It needs to heal
While my baby clings to it
He needs it
But it doesn’t know how
To fill
And pour
At the same time
But it does
While overflowing.
CHELSY MEYER is a University of Montana journalism graduate who is now a copywriter living in Boise, Idaho. She is passionate about finding peace in parenthood through hearing raw stories from other mothers. Her poetry and writing has been featured in various books, blogs, and magazines. Writing is her passion, motherhood is her muse, and her hair is a mess. Read more of her poetry on Instagram @chelsywrites.