Poetry of Issue #8        Page 82

Abandoned

My friend Joni
was given up
for adoption
when she was
just days old.
More than thirty years later,
the thought
that she was abandoned
still wounds her.
Joni tells me the story
of her hurt
as we sit in front of a campfire
in a cool, Utah canyon,
me, six months pregnant
with a child I already treasure.
When Joni finishes crying,
she rests her head
softly against my belly
to feel my unborn son stir.
We both try to comfort her,
and fail.

  Catherine Gigante-Brown