Body as Cloud - Jillian Weise

Before the body there were photographs
     of the body, gray transparent clouds.
The parents saw fists the size of hail
     and this meant confidence in her walk.
The doctor saw heart and lungs, skull
     and brain; this was good,
no need to test for Down Syndrome
     or the others because the cloud was big
and full. The cloud was yawning, breathing.
     When the body came out twisted, six toes
on one foot, a club foot, no tibia,
     no fibula, lungs trapped by the rib cage
what explanation could be given
     more than why we see clouds differently?
Why some are rabbit ears
     while others are the tails of lions?

Jillian on Poetry Foundation. She’s one of my favorite poets, and she is absolutely powerful and luminous in person.