When Mum first brought her home from the hospital, I asked if they did returns
You know, like when you get a refund within 30 days
No questions asked
But Mum laughed and said it was just a shock
A bit of a surprise
I’d grow to love her
That first night she wailed like a banshee
I stuffed a pillow under the gap in my door and prayed for it to stop
But somehow, her screams infested even my deepest dreams
All mournful and tinged with distaste for the world
But when she cried on the second day
I picked her up and pressed her mottled, tear-stained cheek to mine
And I rocked her, ever so gently
After six weeks she looked at me and my heart all but lurched into my mouth
Those eyes
Slate grey and filled with rain
She smelled like milk and cotton
And all things good in the world
But her grip
My little sister’s grip
Holding on for dear life
Now I cradle her, and I swear
I will hold onto her for dear life
My sister
Guess that’s why the hospital has a no returns policy
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Tabitha Brewer is a primary school teacher who specialises in reading. With a background in the arts, she has contributed to raising the profile of reading for pleasure and celebrating the joy of poetry at her school. She often thinks of her poems whilst cycling to work and then scribbles them down when she arrives. Previously published by Tyger Tyger Magazine and The Dirigible Balloon, her work ranges from rhyming poems about animals to free verse about daily life in London.
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