Jide Badmus
2 min readMay 26, 2020

Daddy’s Breasts

Nora, at a few months old, was fascinated with my breasts—probably wondering why they are lean and without milk. She found comfort different from the kind she found in her mum’s bosom. She would lay her head on my chest and chatter away. She would try to rob sleep, rub it off her eyes—a signal for me to pick and rock her to sleep. That’s when the lean chest comes in handy!

It was time to wean her. I had perfected the art of rocking her to sleep so I could reclaim my priced possession—my wife’s breasts are mine. I can’t imagine why it is usually a difficult time for mother and child to let go and learn new ways of bonding? Eventually, we all get weaned of mother’s milk.

Growth is natural but we also have our roles to play. We sometimes hold on to mama’s breasts when we are due to be weaned of milk—milk that no longer have nutritional values for us. Like I said, it is hard to let go of some enjoyable experiences, we get comfortable and are scared to foray into unknown zones.

It’s time to let go of certain friends and business relationships so as to forge much more formidable and beneficial bonds. Like daddy’s lean breasts, some things appear worthless and irrelevant yet they are those things we need to explore, get deep satisfaction from.

In contrast, there are also pleasures and rights we need to let go of—at least for a season—like a new father’s access to his wife’s breasts is restricted. Some of our dreams need to lay fallow for a while to regain vitality. We need to understand that some of our possessions are meant to be shared—those we give that privilege may even lay claim. But with good strategy and patience, we would eventually reclaim what is ours.

Jide Badmus
Jide Badmus

Written by Jide Badmus

Author of 5 Poetry Books (and several chapbooks). Poetry Editor, Con-scio Magazine.

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