‘Nine’, by Brittany Hill

Nine 

She hides her heartache with a touch of wine.
She drinks the red, not white, its hearty taste;
And tells the world, her friends, that she is fine,

But knows that her expression can’t confine
The fact that she is dying: life’s a waste.
She hides her heartache with a touch of wine,

It glosses over pain, makes her eyes shine
So brightly you can see her soul make haste
To tell the world, her friends, that she is fine.

But then she fights herself crosses the line;
Rebels against the womb; expanding waist.
She hides her heartache with a touch of wine,

Convinced the child inside her, “Isn’t mine.”
She prays and says her next life she’ll live chaste;
She tells the world, her friends, that she’ll be fine.

But now she’ll have to wait these long months: nine–
The child inside her causing bitter taste.
She hides her heartache with a touch of wine,
And tells the world (herself) that she is fine.

© Brittany Hill

Brittany Hill is a graduate of Fairfield University with a BA degree in Psychology and a minor in English and is now pursuing her MFA in Poetry at Fairfield. She was an associate editor of Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose. She was also part of Fairfield University’s Poetry by Stealth initiative, which was comprised of the best poets on Fairfield University’s campus.

Thanks to Brittany Hill for the poem , some  of her  poetry is available at this link