You were born in the morning, Grandma Georgina said.
I remember the sound of the birds. Mean old blue jays squawking. They like to fight, you know Don't mess with the blue jays! I hear they can kill you a cat if they get mad enough. And then the phone was ringing. Through all that static squawking, I heard your mama telling me you'd come. Another girl, I stood there thinking, so close to the first one. Just like your mama and Caroline. Not even a year between them and so close, you could hardly tell where one ended and the other started. And that's how I know you came in the morning. That's I remember. You came in the late afternoon, my mother said. Two days after I turned twenty-two. Your father was at work. Took a rush hour bus trying to get to you. But by the time he arrived you were already ehre. He missed the moment, my mother said, but what else is new. You're the one that was born near night, my father says. When I saw you, I said, She's the unlucky one come out looking just like her daddy. He laughs. right off the bat, I told your mama, We're gonna call this one after me. My time of birth wasn't listed on the certificate, then got lost again amid other people's bad memory. What I enjoyed about this poem is the different perspectives given. You have the grandma, mom, and dad all telling her different times that she was born but there is no definite answer. You can also tell there is a sense of brokenness in the family because the mom says "what else is new" as in, the dad is barely there, probably not part of her life as much. But what I also enjoyed is "...coming out looking like her daddy." and "You're the one born near night." Probably indicating her skin which is cute because I know that is how I felt when I was born with my dad's skin tone. At the end, you would think you would know the time she is born, but at the end, not even she knows, but kind of makes it a nice memory knowing that there is humor in bad memory.
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