For my daughter

‘Tis the dawning of your birth day,
Just past the midnight’s stroke.
Your daddy sleeps; your brother sleeps,
And yet, you prod and poke

As if I need reminding
of your presence in my womb!
My precious one, you’ll learn my heart has
“only daughter” room.

It nestles next to Daddy’s space,
and in between your brothers’
A spot that only you will fill,
unique from all the others.

I wait this day with baited breath
to learn of who you’ll be:
your face, your name, your mellow cries
for now just mysteries.

But soon enough, the sun will rise
I’ll face the surgeon’s knife;
And on the flip side of her steel
awaits your God-breathed life.

They’ll pull your red form from me,
suction, rub, and dry.
They’ll drop your eyes and print your feet,
and finally lift you high

Above the sterile curtain
for our four eyes to meet.
I hope you’ll recognize me;
it’s for you my heart beat

For weeks and months and seasons
from fall til May’s first flood.
My darling baby daughter,
my female flesh and blood.

A half-a-turn is all that’s left
for Planet Earth to make
until I draw you to my chest,
a hold no pow’r can shake.

May 3, 2010, dear:
The day my world stood still.
Now overflows the heart-hole 
that only you could fill.