JUDE AND LEO – NICU, by Yvonne Gluyas

Twin babies in clear plastic boxes.
I reach my hand in and touch one.
Machines measure their lives
in heartbeats and breaths.

Their environment is controlled,
but my emotions are not.

One baby clasps his fist around
the tip of my little finger.

The second stirs,
reaches towards his twin,
separated after just
thirty weeks together.

I am part of their souls,
they are part of my life.

One day they will hold my hands
and not just the tip
Of my little finger.

For Jude and Leo
Born 16th December 2019

To celebrate my first meeting with them on 20th December 1919 in NICU (Hobart Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit).

© Yvonne Gluyas