The Aftermath of Miscarriage

The days flip by and I'm fine.

Then I read this:

The bud
stands for all things,
even for those things that don't flower
--opening lines of a Galway Kinnell poem

Or this:

Heartbeat! Oh my God. The most outrageous thing I have ever heard.
--pregnant writer talking about her prenatal exam

Or sometimes a woman will need me, like the housekeeper who asks me to carry the vacuum up the stairs because she's 8 months and her stomach is too big and her arms too tired, and the unexpected moment makes me panic because I shouldn't be able to carry it either.