A while ago I read an account in a newspaper about newly born twins.

Newly Born Twins

In separate incubators, one was dying. 
Against doctor’s orders, a nurse put them together.

The Strong twin, the one with nothing
pulling her back, she slung
her newly born arm over
the one who was wanting to leave,
and stabilised her heartbeat, made everything
regular in the body of the one who’d already
had enough.

The strong one, she will think
she is God, that she can pull back
life from where it was going.
It will be harder for her
than for the one who already knows
about separation, loneliness, where
they can make you want to go.

from Intimates (Jonathan Cape, 2005) © Helen Farish 2005, used by permission of the author and The Random House Group Ltd.

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