a child’s birthday
Another trip around the sun
Another year of bones stretching,
sinews strengthening
Ever onward and upward and going,
going,
going,
That’s the way, yes!
No.
Come back.
Come back to me.
Out you spin, centrifugally pulled
dancing, skipping, running headlong through the grass, the sand, the waves
as it should be
yes, yes, go, go, go
We wend wildly along the trail,
jumping logs and weaving through trees
You pull me to sudden vistas of breath-catching beauty
they hurt to behold
and I turn my face
you’re off again,
racing, tearing through days, weeks, months
wait, stop
wait,
let me catch my breath
let me sit
Come,
just for a moment
sit with me
sit with me
Let’s just sit awhile.
let me stroke your still-soft cheek
let me gaze upon you once more
behold your wondrous face