adjective: Having the same or coincident boundaries;
meeting at the ends; within the same boundaries.

•••

You created my boundaries before you
were aware of my presence deep
in your womb—

just a wee egglet bumped into
by Dad’s wiggly sperm and… boom!
Embryonic me, my perimeter

sheltered, nurtured, molded by and
in yours. One made two, inextricably
bonded in the early days of us,

from the moment of birth
the offspring working so hard
to separate from the architect

of its origin. But now—as you
navigate through your dimming
years, though you hope for

many more—I see our borders
meshing again. We are coincident.
We meet at the ends.

Here, let me take your hand—
not only to help you navigate
the shadowed curb or offer

small ease for what pains you—
but also to offer reassurance
as you must have given me

when, long ago, my tiny fingers
reached for yours, as I took my
first tentative steps through

the world into which you’d
delivered me, propping me up,
whispering,

Here, all this is yours. Isn’t it
beautiful? Isn’t this place
lucky to have you in it, too?