The Bottle Clock

No and not-time-yet.
The crying a doesn’t-
matter, a mother-knows-
best, a book, a doctor.
The bottles, glass, bounce
in boiling water, nipples
dry on a dishcloth.
The baby learns to outlast
hunger, to swallow
her voice.

Jane Hilberry

One of Jane Hilberry’s (jhilberry@coloradocollege.edu) favorite lines from Shakespeare is this,
from the final scene of The Winter's Tale: “If this be magic, let it be an art / As lawful as eating.”