A Song of Simple Praise
As nature nurtures the earth
through emerald hours of May
we set aside a special day
to honor those who gave us birth.
We sing a song of simple praise
for those who nurture, understand,
who teach us how to love firsthand,
to launch us on our myriad ways.
We sing of mothers,
Love’s first gentle clue
that even greater Love
abounds, extends
across the Cosmos without end
ever present to uplift, renew
Hello Again
Only minutes after your birth
we walk in to find you
nestled in a flannel blanket
beneath the comfort of a heat lamp
wearing only burnished red hair
and birthday beauty enough
to snatch our breath away.
(An ultrasound technician once said
You were twins; instead, you are a Gemini.)
Eyes open and alert, you lie there
looking around as if you know what –
or whom – you look for,
as if you can already focus,
as if you can already see.
You lie swaddled in a spirit so luminous
You fill the room with light.
You are the one who will impel us
to climb Jacob’s ladder of awareness.
Tiny as you are, you bring us together
as one. Both initiation and reward,
Already you bless us all. |
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Bubbles
Bubbles.
What better thing to enchant
our little twenty-month-old
copper-capped angel-imp
on his next adventurous
outing at our house?
Bubbles.
Who cares if we brought
them out in starlight?
He didn’t when he saw them
rise into the black velvet folds
of night in all their rainbow glory.
Bubbles,
magical spheres lit by lamplight.
He threw his tiny arms into the air
And his exultant voice into the sky
running after them like an
Innocent from the higher realms.
"Wow!" he exclaimed. "Bubbles!"
He smiled with his entire body.
"Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles!"
His eyes shone like that wild moon
the cow jumped over so long ago.
He gloried in rainbow bubbles
and we gloried in his boundless joy. |
Free-Fall
You weren’t so sure about
crawling into my arms again
after that terrible dizzied fall
we took on the hearth, even
though I twisted so I would meet
the hearth first, when I knew
I couldn’t prevent falling
without dropping you.
I’ve sung an almost non-stop
song of gratitude to the Cosmos
ever since. I could not have lived
with the consequences
had you been hurt. I celebrate
the broken rib and the bent one.
They mean you were spared
and I adore you.
And what a joyous mood you
you arrived in today, calling "Hi! Hi!"
The familiar grin on your face
expressed the lilt of your voice.
Little copper-capped elf,
we played ball to your delight
built swaying primary-colored
towers that evoked an innocent
"oh-oh" when they fell with a
clatter at your feet.
Counting games garnered
your applause for a time.
Then you pulled your little chair
up to mine, stood upon it
with a smile big as a runner’s mile,
reeling a moment before
you fell into my lap
in a fit of irrepressible laughter.
Then again and again
You clamored up into the chair
And free-fell into my arms
with nary a falter.
Oh! How I celebrate the return
of your total trust.
Photo above of Jacob - about 18 months
by Ms. Lindy of SamIAm |
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World Traveler
When he was three, his great-grandmother
Turned her Jungian sandbox into Africa.
Every time he arrived he would
Grab her hand. "Let’s go to Africa."
They populated the box
With trees of the savannah
antelope, elephants,
hippos, zebras, lions.
His great-grandfather
Introduced him to more
Animals taught him what they did
where they lived.
For hours they explored the far
reaches of the planet together.
At four, globes enamored him.
"This is Asia," he would announce
pointing to the correct landmass.
continent by continent
he named them all –
"Africa, Asia, North America,
South America, Europe,
Antarctica, Australia" –
his voice rising
with excitement.
"I want to go everywhere"
he would exclaim
stretching his arms
wide as they would go.
"I want to see everything!"
Already his great-grandparents
see the young man he will be
stride across distant landscapes
with not a look back,
his passport clasped
in his eager hand,
his heart filled with dreams
and memories and goals
a duffle bag slung
over his shoulder.
Never did they dream
he would leave
at eight-and-a-half.
Photo above of Jacob - about 7 1/2 Years
by Ms Lindy of SamIAm |
