The ultrasound lets us know
the baby is a boy and that
there’s only one of him in there.

All four chambers of his heart are
working, and his heart is beating
a hundred-forty-five times a minute.

He’s in the uterus, where he
should be and not in a narrow
fallopian tube;

the placenta has moved back
from the cervix (that’s good!)
and all his fluid levels

check out just fine. His spine
is nicely formed; his head
and neck proportionate.

No problem with his kidneys (both
present and and accounted for); his
tummy’s round ( a little “chubby”)

and from some angles his profile
is clear: the forehead
and a little nose.

The most astonishing (and unusual)
thing is seeing his hands
as they open and close,

as if he’s counting all the stars
in heaven, or practicing the art
of letting go.