She is sick now, this woman
who when 12, fell 12 meters while sleeping
into the sewers of Tehran. The floor just dropped—
flowing water, erosion, miscalculations by men hurrying
to build a modern city caused falling floors everywhere—
the earth gulped other beds, other dreaming children.
She is pregnant now, this woman
whose metal bed frame was found twisted like a toy,
4 meters above the hole where she awakened in darkness,
until she heard the scraping of shovels against gravel
and was lifted out of the mud of death.
Still, every morning she wonders why she was saved.
Then she slumps in her chair, hurries through the bright office
to the bathroom to be sick, this woman
who as a girl took off the nightgown she wore into the earth
and cut it into tiny squares to give to all the people
who gathered to celebrate the miracle of the girl
with the gift of second life.
About the author: Susan Jelus is a former technical writer, instructional designer, and poetry publisher. She lives in Utah where she writes, teaches fretted instruments and folk music, plays with paints and fiber, and explores the land. Her work has been published in several anthologies and little magazines.