Driving through Vermont today
Monday::latemorning::pregnant
& the rural miracle
is 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P.” on the radio

mixed into another cut
from “Get Rich or Die Tryin’”
which I know all the words to::which I am trying
to do myself

Riches so far include
these leaves finally turning bright
homemade deli pickles in the basement
healthy body::& family::& friends

but otherwise financially [technically] speaking
riches do not abound
especially right now
[[I worry::I try not to worry::I worry about it]]

The baby bounces with me
in the truck which bounces
at speeds higher than 50
[something that needs fixing]

[[like the other car
which is also broken]] [dead battery]
Today I will be invited as a guest on a radio show
Today I will buy myself the purple asters I covet

I can’t get out of chairs easily::or gracefully
Even women help me now at stores
In stretchy black & sagegreen clothes
I hustle forward with this baby beneath my skin

Like 50 I have 21 questions [[about birth::& life]]
I try to breathe like the articles tell me to
I fail::I thrive::I fail again::I’m fueled
by gasoline & fresh-dug beets & beliefs I can’t explain