Because

If you hate poetry, skip this post.  If you don't generally hate poetry, but you do hate it when I write poetry, skip this post.  Thanks!

When Heather was about a week old, I wrote two poems.  You can find one of them here.  I saved this one for her birthday.  Happy Birthday, baby girl.

In my mind

    my brain

    my center of control

I love you, because

my body worked

    long shifts         

    late nights         

    and double overtime

making sure

your body had

    kneecaps check

    eyelids check

    spleen check

    duodenum check

I love you because

    You are mine.

In my heart

    my main frame

    my center of emotion

I love you, because

     you pucker your mouth

     in a perfect little ‘o’.

You have chubby cheeks

     and scrawny chicken legs.

Your hair is a mystery

     I may never solve.

Someday you will have

     hopes and dreams

     plans and arrangements

some include me,

and some do not.

I love you because

You are you.

In my gut

    my core

    my center of existence

I love you, because

     you hold my finger tight.

It seems my body

     was created

     in perfect dimensions

     for the sole purpose

     of holding yours.

There will come a

     day when I will hear

     your little voice

     call me “mommy” and

I love you because

I am yours.