Taking the Time

I wish
I lived
in an
era
when
women
wore
striped,
long
dresses
and gave
their
children
baths
on their
laps.

Taking the Time

A time
when
baths
were
slow
and
gentle,
a time
when
mother
and child
could just
be together
in that
suspended
moment
of a
connection
deeper than
words.

A mother
would keep
her child
close,
one
hand
around
her waist,
and the
other
gently
cradling
a foot.

My
mother
never
did
either
of these
things.

There
was
never
time.