A Letter Home

I’ve heard it said that each of us is treated
with the same attitudes our birth was greeted

if it was a happy time, much love and anticipated
we walk through life with those same opinions of our self

we expect to be loved and greeted enthusiastically
throughout our lives

but if instead we were unplanned
complaint and regret filled the pregnancy

then our birth and life have that anxiety
expressed through a foul mood and irritability

our best intentions are met with resistance
those we love can’t seem to return it

early trauma has a similar effect
separated from our bodies with a near death

for those it is a heightened awareness
an intuition that goes beyond normal consciousness

like a knowing from somewhere above
a link created that goes beyond average perception

on the other hand if that birth caused near death

or actual death for the mother

buried in the subconscious for the child,
a guilt or apology that is never expressed.

How we are born matters
it affects how we live ever after

the capacity for love is expanded for those who are loved
and for all the others a barren landscape of loss.