Something I’ve never understood
That wolf from Little Red Riding Hood
One date with him and look at me
The fifth month of my pregnancy

A little witch inside me grows
It’s got these ears, this crooked nose
I nourish it with wholesome meals
Bugs and insects, worms and eels

I’m making sure the child will be
A spitting image of hideous me
A sickly thing prone to disease
So I’m lighting up a lot of these

Cigarettes cause low birth weight
Breathing disorders can seal its fate
A cleft palate and birth defects
Are what a smoking mom expects

It fills a witch’s heart with glee
To deliver a kid as unhealthy as me
So light up a butt my sweet Valentine
And your baby could turn out just like mine!

c2015pn
Read Peet Nourjian’s previous poems here.