I was content

to be a boy mom.

Guitars and drums

bellowed from my basement

Cub Scouts and Little League

uniforms dangled from door knobs

skateboards and trail bikes

shacked up in my shed,

but all those smiling social posts

mothers and daughters twinning,

two peas with the same DNA

yessing the dress in unison;

for the moment I feel robbed.

Time has flown for bearing a Mini-Me,

but how can I forget

my teen son begging me to watch

Gilmore Girls with him

profoundly aware it would stir my soul,

his sibling phoning for dating advice,

seeking consolation from a break up,

my soon-to-be daughter-in-law

urging me to help select the gown─

I am mortified by my shortsightedness.

Elaine Sorrentino, author of Belly Dancing in a Brown Sweatsuit (Kelsay Books, 2025) has been published in journals such as Minerva Rising, Willawaw Journal, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Gyroscope Review, Ekphrastic Review, Quartet Journal, ONE ART: a journal of poetry, Etched Onyx Magazine, and Haikuniverse. A fan of writing haiku and ekphrastic poetry, she lives in Pembroke, Massachusetts and is facilitator of the Duxbury Poetry Circle. www.elainesorrentinopoet.com