Nancy Hedin
Ours is a Quarter Ton Love
I remember
When I loved your ass
Before
Both of ours were
Too big
to behold
in one glance
To hold
in two hands
I remember
when
our breath was caught not labored
Getting up from the floor
was playful not aerobic
I remember
when
we both fit
in a single bed
an airplane seat
a standard tub.
May I never forget
–that I love your roundness
–that you make me catch my breath
–that we fit together
Sometimes
I feel ashamed
There’s so much more of us
to love
But
We were built for the long haul
–the steep grade
–off road
And now since the children,
We carry precious cargo
We carry precious cargo
“Ours is a Quarter Ton Love” first appeared in Rock, Paper, Scissors in 2011.
Nancy Hedin completed her MFA from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota in December. Her freelance work has been published in The Minnesota Women’s Press, The Lake Country Journal, The Phoenix, The Midway/Como Monitor, and Rock, Paper, Scissors. She is seeking representation for her quirky coming of age novel, Bend. Nancy has been a pastor, a bartender, and a stand-up comic, and currently works as a crisis worker on a mobile team which assesses mentally ill people in the community. She lives with her wife and their two daughters, ages ten and thirteen in St. Paul.