Baby Talk
August 6, 2025

Baby Talk

The baby was born speaking. Not just “no,” “mine,” “yours,” but also, “post-industrial decay,” and “carbon footprint, traces of which are present in the changing azaleas.”

I’m so glad to see this flash piece out in the world. I wrote it right after Adam was born, and it came out just after he turned a year old. Thank you to all the students and friends (many of them mothers and writers themselves) that helped me edit this one.

You may also notice my new obsession with Sabrina Orah Mark’s work showing here. I’ve been influenced a lot lately by her freely Jewish, freely neurotic, freely poetic and speculative voice.

READ THE STORY ✲ READ THE STORY ✲ READ THE STORY ✲ READ THE STORY ✲ READ THE STORY ✲

From the Wildscape Literary Editor

Diana, I'm unsure how you did it, but I think you made me feel nearly every emotion while I read this piece. The first paragraph had me laughing so hard, I nearly woke my toddler up. By the end, I felt a way that I think only a mother can feel, when she feels seen and not-so-alone-afterall.