Colostrum begins at birth
skin to skin, her nipple

a swollen gumball
for our newborn 

so I can’t help
but watch, gaze 

open mouthed as my son
fills and empties 

his pea-sized stomach
every two hours

like an overcast sky
demands rain on sidewalks

she coaxes a good latch
while I hover

as her attention showers
like sunshine for our child

on the inclined hospital bed
her father looks away on the couch.

Beau Boudreaux teaches English in Continuing Studies at Tulane University in New Orleans.  His first book-length collection of poems Running Red, Running Redder was published by Cherry Grove Collections in 2012.  He has published his poetry in journals including Antioch Review and Cream City Review, and in anthologies including The Southern Poetry Anthology.