Botticelli's The Birth of Venus

It wasn't really like that, was it?
The ocean groaned and heaved in tidal suck and shove
while you floundered blind toward your first breath
and wailed when the cold air struck you.
Your mother rocked you in her arms--
once, too briefly--
then tucked you sleeping in a giant shell
and abandoned you on the doorstep of the land.

Collection available! Knocking from Inside