Cooking the cabbage twice

When apologizing
for reviewing
pain management options
during labour and childbirth
a midwife
at Edinburgh's
Simpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion

Image result for simpson memorial maternity pavilion

said
we don't normally
cook the cabbage twice

the midwife
recommended
gas and air
of all the options
remarking that TENS

was unreliable
the epidural carried the risk
of crippling the woman
and synthetic heroin
was probably not a good thing
for the baby
as it was unclear
what made it
through the placenta

of course
there was also
the possibility
of doing the whole thing
in a hot bath
but gas and air
was best
to prepare for
having the advantage
of acting quickly and
without detriment
to the baby

I never thought
of the ins and outs
of not cooking the cabbage twice
although I did have pause
when I heard someone say
years later
she thought her mother found her
under a cabbage leaf

but then I got involved
with the local Ukrainians

who were talking
about cabbage rolls
and the advantages
of using Savoy cabbage

which could be used
without steaming the leaves
before wrapping the rice
and bacon
or beef

for a moment
I wondered
if cabbage rolls
were the origin
of cooking the cabbage twice
but then I thought
of the English
with their bubble and squeak

I thought of the Irish
with their colcannon

and I thought

of Cabbage Patch Kids

Image result for cabbage Patch Kids vintage

with their fake adoption papers

and birth certificates

Image result for cabbage patch kid birth certificate

looking

at my daughter now

with her birth certificate

showing SMMP

as where she made

her first appearance

and me

listed

as a student of history

and she looks none the worse

for wear

for having the cabbage

cooked twice

while she was still

on her way.one

geometrical beehive sunflowers with bees

baffles and bulkheads cotton wool and
personality as scabs to protect in response to pain and suffering of world
clothing as personality
between nit wit and weber
georgian red wine--there is no white--that is a matter of taste not logic--real wine is always red there is no Georgian white, only red
never give cabbage rolls to a friend's son--in case he likes them better than his own mother's and is critical of his mother in consquence
turley and paltry points 3 chickens
ash pyroclastic ash and snow--similar and very different

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