Something New Under the Moon

I watch intently as the technician spreads ice-blue jelly over my daughter’s rounded
stomach.
For an instant, it seems as if we should trade places, and I should be lying there waiting to
view my child for the first time.
I want to stop the sacred moment, to give it more time, more thought, more understanding,
But the monitor’s sensor slides over the hills and valleys of her abdomen and captures my
attention.
I am reminded of a day that seems not so long ago but is,
When she came to me and proudly showed off her brand new tattoo.
“What is it?” I had asked, horrified that my child had so permanently marred the body I
had taken such pains to protect.
“It looks like a shiny lock of black hair curling around your belly button,” I had told her.
She must have taken my words to heart; for a few days later, she had added several stars
so that there would be no question of the inky moon’s identity.
Now, I contemplate her spherical sky-scape and ponder the precious mystery beneath.
The technician presses a few buttons and says, “It’s a boy.”
“See,” she announces. “He’s looking right at us.”
I squint. I unfocus my eyes. “I don’t see anything,” I say.
A glowing cloud-like band of light stretches across the night sky of amniotic fluid.
An array of luminaries appears, stars and more stars, a whole undulating galaxy.
I am lost in this magical, celestial universe until a wave of motion washes over the scene.
The constellation shifts again and becomes a blessed view of creation, a preordained
nova.
And there he is. A new star is born,
A heavenly body shining with his own light,
My grandson.

Cat MacDiarmid has one daughter, Meadow, and a five-year-old grandson, Noah. They are the inspiration of much of her writing, which includes poems, short stories, children’s books, and novels. Cat is currently working on a book titled Step On the Ghost. She is a member of the Acadiana Writing Project and credits this group with helping her to improve her writing over the last ten years. Cat has been teaching English in junior high school for 27 years. She has a BA in English, a Masters in Education, and National Board Certification.