When she came home from the hospital

in an unfamiliar chirping of husband

                                           and new baby,

a bassinet draped with crocheted lace

stood in the middle of the room

beside their Formica table that had been dressed for Christmas

with serviettes and sparkling china,

and fern fronds, softening

white dishes filled with steaming vegetables,

                                          and her mum greeting them

like bubbly and summer straw,

dad nodding behind.

                                          And she placed the

sleeping baby into the nest by the table,

and they took their seats in the room that shimmered

of white lace in the new breath of summer

                                         carried through the door.