Natalie Marino
Ode to Nine
She is a little sun.
She is a clementine—
sometimes sweet,
sometimes sour—
she is not really
mine. For years
I thought I wore
invisible armor—
that I was made
of the thinnest tin—
but becoming
a mother has meant
learning to eat
my own heart.
When she was born
I dreamt of a tea rose
tree. She told me
yesterday she wants
to be called by a different
name; today
she walked with me
to the beach.
I watched her
hold in her hand
several sand crabs
and then let them go
into the water.
I bit my lip
and tasted the salt
of the ocean.
Return to Motherhood’s Duality Folio
Natalie Marino is a poet and practicing physician. Her work appears in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Little Patuxent Review, Pleiades, Puerto del Sol, Salt Hill, wildness, and elsewhere. She is the author of the chapbook “End of Revels” (Bottlecap Press, 2025). She lives in California. You can find her online at nataliemarino.com or on Instagram @natalie_marino.