Saturday, May 8, 2010

Caution: Serious Side Effects!

Recently a friend passed along copies of some poems I had written for her when her first child was born. It was fun reading them, and seeing how different the style I used then is from the way I write today. We had a conversation about those and other poems I'd written.

One was a favorite of some of my friends. It was written for another friend, as she awaited the birth of her first baby girl. Many of the women had asked for a copy of those words, and honored by the requests, I granted them. Before long, I was being blamed for those women adding to their families. The poem was nicknamed "the fertility poem."

Perhaps, after the first accusation, I should have added a warning. "Caution: Reading these words may produce nausea, vomiting, headache, extreme drowsiness, strange eating habits, severe abdominal cramping, ultimately ending in the arrival of new family member. Risk responsibility is entirely that of the reader and author of these words will accept no blame for readers conditions."

Maybe I'll just steer clear of writing anything that smacks of family.