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.