
Ariana Quiñones
Do You Remember? / Will You Be My Baby?
Do you remember
the first time
someone called you baby?
Maybe it was a lover.
Maybe it was your mother.
Maybe it came from someone trying
to shame or mock you.
Did it make you feel warm?
Did it hurt?
Did it make you feel embarrassed?
Or did your chest swell up with hope?
To be somebody's baby.
A term used so often
and yet
from the right person
feels like a name
made just for you.
////
If I ask ,
will you be my baby?
Will you know that what
I'm really asking,
is
can I be yours?
If I ask, instead of requesting, will you think of me as weak or mindful?
Or would you pull away at the idea of belonging to anyone?
If I ask,
will you be my baby?
Will you know that I'm not asking to own you or have power over you
but simply to be embraced
into your orbit.
Embraced into your warmth
as we wait for the end of time the prophets say
is just around the corner.