Monkey mind

Lately I’ve been having dreams about giving birth. These are no ordinary dreams, where you end up with actual human babies. I’ve dreamed about giving birth to kittens and to puppies mostly. But last night I dreamed I’d given birth to monkeys. How many? There were too many to count but not too many to hold on to me with their lanky arms and moist little hands. In fact, of all the animals I’ve given real or imaginary birth to, including my two human offspring, monkeys were the easiest to raise. Because they held on snugly, my hands were free to carry out the ordinary tasks of daily life. And that took a lot of stress out of the endeavor. It was, I confess, a little sad to wake up in the same condition in which I fell asleep, menopausal and unlikely to ever again conceive and bear a child.

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