"she's kicking"
nalani says

holds my
hands against

her belly
so warm!

chicken broth
boils in

the crockpot
bones turn

in briny
liquid-baby

kicks again
can she

feel my
body heat?

magma rises
water into

steam-Kilauea
drill, turbine

Mauna Loa
grid, undersea

cables-is
geothermal safe?

baby's so
active tonight

nalani presses
my palms

deeper into
this skin

drum e
Pele e

*** The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day[at]poets.org.

About This Poem
"This poem is an excerpt from a weekly series of poems I wrote during my wife's pregnancy. The title, 'understory,' refers to plants and young trees that grow beneath the main canopy of a jungle or forest." -Craig Santos Perez

About Craig Santos Perez
Craig Santos Perez is the author of "from unincorporated territory [guma']" (Omnidawn Publishing, 2014). He teaches at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and lives in Manoa.

(c) 2014 Craig Santos Perez
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