Last night they told you,
your mama and daddy.
Such a good thing, done
in such a loving way, the
three of you sitting together,
reading the book of secrets,
turning the page of your life.
Today I’ve been feeling so
tender, achy with melancholy,
knowing you know where
babies come from now,
and how they get there,
and wasn’t it just a minute
ago that you were a baby,
a toddling little cutie, too?
Sweet, funny, exuberant
girl, my beautiful girl, how
can your body be changing
so soon? How can you need
to know about the birds and
bees…and still need your
love-worn, plastic-eyed Puppy
to hug in your arms to sleep?
I wasn’t crying, thinking of you,
just feeling some grandma grief,
when Fleetwood Mac came on
the radio with Stevie Nix singing
Landslide just like she sang it all
those times when I was young…
“Can I handle the seasons of my life?…
Time makes you bolder,
Children get older
I’m getting older, too…”
I honestly wasn’t crying.
But then I was.
Ann Keiffer
March, 2013
