by Rochelle Ratner
I'm two-and-a-quarter years old, she tells her mother. You don't have to watch me. That monitor thing's only for her baby brother. Sometimes, when she's playing on the floor and making too much noise, her mother picks her up and sits her on her lap and they watch the screen together. But her brother bores her. It's different today, though. There are these funny-looking people flying about on the screen, sort of like Tinkerbell, but fatter than Tinkerbell. They're not babies, they're astronauts, her mother starts to explain. Then she stops herself. Pampers come in all sizes.
Rochelle Ratner's latest poetry books include Leads (Otoliths Press, 2007), Balancing Acts (Marsh Hawk Press, 2006), Beggars at the Wall (Ikon, 2006) and House and Home (Marsh Hawk Press, 2003). She is the author of fifteen previous poetry collections and two novels (Bobby’s Girl and The Lion’s Share) both published by Coffee House Press). More information and links to her writing on the Internet can be found on her homepage.