Poem: A Net of Promises

[shiori_makiba]

 Well I said one of the resulting pieces would definitely be posted to the blog. It is from my 'Ohana series.

Poem: A Net of Promises

by shiori_makiba / Ashley Weyer

Word Count: 304

Based on the prompt by ysabetwordsmith for Thank Muse It's Friday January 2016 session. Constructive feedback or even just "I liked this" or "It didn't grab me" is always appreciated.

“A Net of Promises”

Everyone who becomes a parent makes promises.

To themselves, to each other, to their children.

Lakiesha, Sammy, Pedro, Nat, and Martin were no exception.

They all promised to donate the necessary genetic material.

They promised that regardless of

whose gametes mixed successfully with whose

that the children would be all of theirs.

Lakiesha and Nat promised to carry the children.

Pedro and Martin didn't have the necessary parts for that bit.

Sammy did but only in the technical sense.

After all, just having a female body did not make someone female.

They had promised to take care of each other

when they first became a family.

They re-affirmed that promise now

and extended it to include the little ones on the way.

They promised to let the children decide what gender they were.

They picked out a couple of gender neutral names.

Finding clothes and other things for the babies

that fit that plan proved to be difficult.

But there were pattern books for baby clothes

and Martin was a genius with a sewing machine.

Sammy knitted others and Lakiesha made quilts.

Pedro wasn't very good at fiber crafts

but his carpentry skills more than made up for that.

Nat did what she always did

and quietly made sure everyone ate, had clean clothes, and slept.

They promised to be the best parents they could be.

They promised to be supportive.

They promised to listen.

They promised to protect.

They promised themselves, as they had done so often as children,

that they would never do some of the things their parents had done.

But nobody was perfect and everyone makes mistakes.

So they made a little net of promises

woven out of love and hope, of worry and fear.

And prayed that it be enough to catch them

and the children when someone inevitably stumbled.