Unlatch

This sonnet by Dorian Brooks was first published in Ibbetson Street in 2019.

Unlatch

A woman from Honduras recalled how officials
took away her baby while she was breastfeeding.
—The Guardian, June 16, 2018  

I wonder, when they came to take away
babies from nursing mothers, did they snatch
them off, or let the mothers finish, the way
midwives and manuals taught them – to “unlatch” 

as naturally as breathing?  Carefully
crook your pinky finger and slip it into
your baby’s mouth.  Turn your finger slowly
to break the suction, ease it nearer you 

a little bit, then rest.  I like to think 
at least a few officials had the heart
to let a mother linger – giving one last drink
to her child – before they pulled the pair apart

  and neither one knew where the other went,
  both left with empty lives for nourishment.

                                 © Dorian Brooks