Your first year

Last September summer
Burned a hundred and more
A wildfire in its wake
I counted the days and waited for you
Waddling through the miasmic haze
You boxed your way
Out of your cozy cave
To meet us for the first time
We both cried

My little new roommate
What can you learn from me?
Those late nights I stared
At the glowing red digits
Willing them to fast forward ahead
Or later, pause and rewind
I worried about your education

How will I keep you safe from guns
I can only tell you where to run
Will it help to swim and float
As the seas consume the coasts
What does it mean to listen and share
When all the world has so much hate to spare

But I underestimated
Your smile
And laugh
And wave
And dance
You point up at new things
So that I can see from your eyes
You bring your toys to me
So that I can enjoy them too
You repeat the sounds I make
So that we can say them together
My little wonder
What can’t you teach me?

Hope is the sun that won
After three seasons of fog
Drying the bog, blazing the sky
But it’s half of battle one

Start every day like it’s your first
Your life has just begun
Make your own seal
Break the wheel
The world is yours to keep
Learn it all, fail and fall
See the light, make it right
The future is yours to write

Love is the home
You will always find
And will always welcome you

Beloved, blessed little one
Every day I pray
May the world be kind to you
And you to the world
May God keep us by your side
And time on your side
May every year be as happy
As your first ♥️