When a baby boy is born
     and the midwife
                 holds him up
     as he takes
                 his first breath,
Place him over
     the Mother’s face
                  so when the baby exhales
     his first breath on Earth
                  the Mother breathes it.

And when the Mother dies,
     her middle-aged son
                  the baby grew up to be —
     by her side,
                  his head next to her head —
Follows her breathing with his breath
      as it becomes shorter,
                  and as the dying Mother
      exhales her last breath
                  her son inhales it.