They see a woman
drinking her coffee in peace,
smiling at the light through her window.

They see my garden—
the one I’ve made bloom
with rosemary, sage, and lavender.

But they don’t see the silence
that sits next to me at breakfast,
how my arms still shape themselves
around what was never there.

They don’t see
the ultrasounds I never got,
the drawer of saved baby names,
or the calendar
marked with months that passed like ghosts.

They don’t know
this joy was fought for—
every leaf, every breath,
earned
after years of
“maybe next time.”

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Melba is a Dominican-American poet and author of Unplanted, Yet Flourishing, a debut poetry collection exploring the emotional reality of infertility through nature, grief, and resilience. Her work invites readers into the unspoken spaces of womanhood with tenderness and truth. Connect with her at @poeticnectarcollective, or at poetic-nectar-collective.company.site.