Fortuna rolls the dice in Tumahole
Free State, South Africa

I have never seen a baby so tiny outside
a womb. You hold her jigsaw of bones
in a blanket, afraid to scatter the pieces
in case they’d sail like seeds onto the road.
A dung beetle rolls its ball in the dust.
Did you know Scarabaeus Zambesianus
steers by the milky way? Stars do not dim.
The slow queue pushes on, shoves you
towards the clinic doors, to nurses waiting
just for you.

 

 

Karin Molde is a poet and language teacher living in Hamburg, Germany. She has published in various magazines, both print and online, and in anthologies. Her chapbook Self-Portrait with Sheep Skull was published with Moonstone Press, 2023. @moldekarin