Pregant, attempting a nap,
     groggy as a hibernating bear,
     My cubs tumble over me.
     Diapered bottoms roll across my face.
     Shrieks
     giggles
     drool.
     I resist only the worst of it,
     with an occasional cuff or a growl.
     Mostly, I'm laughing too.

     I glimpse their chubby faces through slits
     as they dive and wrestle.
     Waiting for my third birth,
     I feel linked to other mammals' motherhood.

     I groan and grin,
     receiving their little leaping bodies
     wondering
     how a mother leopard survives a litter.