Metronome (149 words)

When the sonogram was invented, that man had no idea that the string of pearls that excites parents so much would look so beautiful fleshed out, lying bare next to me 30 years later. And I felt smarter and more privileged than he as I stared at her back, wondering how she managed to keep it so beautiful when it was heavily burdened.

Inhale...up. Exhale...down. Inhale...up. Pause... And then...Exhale...down. I pull her close and she doesn't wake up. I fall asleep to her metronome.

I don't have much. I never have...maybe I never will. But if I could come home every night and have her I wouldn't need hip hop. This is what being a Black man is really all about. Not about about the ornaments women aspire to be because of who I think I am. But the man I get to be because of the jewel she is.