Breastfeeding ends a lot like it starts
With a leaking left boob and an emotional heart
Breasts so engorged, they’re sore and they drip
So big it feels like your top could just rip.
But now there’s no need to store your milk
Instead you watch, as it swirls like silk
In the bath that you sit in alone while she sleeps
Where you weep and you leak and you leak and you weep.
There once was a day that you dreamed of this time
When you hated the pump, and you wanted the wine
You imagined an hour she wouldn’t need to eat
On those endless nights; feed, sleep, repeat.
But you thought it’d be different; you thought you’d get to choose
Now you feel, you had everything to lose
She’s getting older now and she no longer craves
The liquid gold you produced for those years, months and days.
So enjoy all those feedings – in restaurants and bars
Swimming pools, coffee shops – the back seat of cars
You’ll never know when it could be your last
And how much you’ll long for those days in the past.
Alison Moffatt, LLL Northampton
