Postpartum Prayer Sonnet

Winter. It’s winter. I can tell by the frost where I—
was it mirror? My belly, the baby, 
coffee and whipped cream. Icicles. The bath
warm, the windows frozen. What 
hovers over the lake—bats? Barn owls?
Light like Times Square— chintzy and magic, 
electricity reflected on water.
Below the water, a body, they say, 
many bodies. Who knows 
wide caverns in a tiny skull, the cave 
that opened for Elizabeth in the wilderness, 
John the Baptist at her breast. 
Open the window. Melt into Spring. 
I believe I can do these things.

SARA MOORE WAGNER

Sara Moore Wagner is the author of three prize-winning full-length books of poetry: Lady Wing Shot (2024), Swan Wife (2022), and Hillbilly Madonna (2022). Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in many journals and anthologies. In 2023, she became the managing poetry editor of Driftwood Press. Find her at www.saramoorewagner.com.