Yes Times Three

A Birthday Poem for my Triplet Daughters

You are not built for this, said my doctor,

on sighting three fuzzy spaceships,

blips on the ultrasound screen.

Something about the structure of my pelvis, unfavorable outcome,

Stubborn or maybe foolhardy,

I would not say no

to such an embarrassment of riches,

precarious yet precious.

They arrived, three queens

on Three King’s Day,

small but mighty-lunged.

Matching outfits had a limited shelf-life;

my fairy princess, my ringleader, and my daredevil

all rejected attempts at triplet packaging.

Now grown

what they still share coalesced in amniotic fluid

a bond so magical, unyielding, fierce

they are free to be

themselves.

Happy birthday, beauties.

I am grateful that what I was not built for, I sustained,

and that each of you

has taken it from there.