before pen has
touched paper
and ink has stained
the page
we know little but
you are the hero
of this fairytale
and the champion
of our hearts
so come tell us
your story
o fair prince
the book is open
the sheets are blank
the curious are waiting
0
there are no numbers yet
but they will all start here
in this quiet house
that is already
so full of you
our lives are a lot like yours now
nothing but dreams and mysteries
under the darkened tent
of a warm summer night
soon we will be
trapeze artists
reaching out
reaching out
grabbing hold
and letting go
1
it wasn’t long
before you turned one
that you and
the silky blue dog
came up with your first
ingenious escape plan
in which you would
wriggle and writhe
your tiny ball of a body
into seated position
while your crumpled little friend
would keep watch
with his good plastic eye
on the darkened door
and the yellow light beyond
from there you would
scale the smooth wooden bars
with one wobbly hand
then the other
until you reached the top rail
and stood for the first time
over your pajama’d kingdom
of books and blankets and toys
basking in triumph and amazement
despite the muted laughter
and quiet tears
of the proud father in the hall
2
it’s impossible to count
the moments between one and two
when lions learn to roar
and cows begin to moo
where the blocks will always topple
after towers start to rise
and toddlers love to toddle
for fun and exercise
where the sky shouts, “i’m blue!”
and the grass says, “me green!”
the very best things about you
are the spaces in between
3
when you are three
the days simply explode
like fireworks
and quickly
wink out again
so our earliest memories
end up as shattered fragments,
bits, and pieces of the most
significant moments
in our tiny little lives
maybe you’ll remember
riding on two wheels
when you were five
or recall climbing a tall tree
when you just turned six
or the time you practically flew off a roller coaster
when you were seven
but in my life
you are the highlight
and these are the days
that will stay with me forever
and though you may not remember
when you were three
i will remember for you
4
when you were a baby,
you would wake up
in the middle of the night
because you were hungry
so i would take you downstairs
to warm up your milk and get you fed
and then we would dance
in the middle of the kitchen
with just the light of the radio
gently rocking and swirling in the dark
until it was just billie holiday,
glenn miller, and ella fitzgerald
filling the quiet night
with their moonlight serenades
last night you called me to your room
like you do every night
but this time it wasn’t
for a drink of water,
or to read a book,
or to tell me you weren’t tired
instead, you asked me to dance with you
and even though you’ll soon be too big
to rest your sleepy head on my shoulder
i will always dance with you
any time of day or night
even in the rain and snow
whenever you call
wherever you are
from here to the moon
i hope this dance never ends
5
when you were five
you wanted to play
all the time
from as soon as you got up
until the time you went to bed
legos and blocks and forts and cars
and games and monsters and balls
and races -
oh, how you loved running races.
“they’ll be time to play tomorrow”, we would often say
before kissing you goodnight
but the truth is
moms and dads really don’t know much more than you do -
especially about time
so, let’s play as often as we can
because it’s sunny outside
and nighttime is a long way away
6
now we are six
a gaggle of boys
breaks apart and joins again
chasing a ball across
a pitch green field
the grass just lies there
weary from the long summer day
and the clouds continue their
slow lumber towards night
then, suddenly,
he comes dancing into focus —
his cheeks ruddied with laughter
the dappled light of childhood
splashing across his face
8
after you had gone to bed
but before you were asleep
your brain kept you up
thinking about some
errant thought or misgiving
you would call and
summon one of us to your bed
sometimes five times a night
with questions about
something someone said at school
or to show us how you combed the hair
of your favorite stuffed animal in a funny way
until you finally
quit fighting for more of the day
and decided to wander into night
because that was more interesting
after that though
and what you never knew
is that mom always visited one more time
every single night
to tuck you into your dreams
like you were tucked into ours
9
the perfect paper airplane
begins with a empty sheet of paper
full of possibilities
folded carefully and deliberately
with tight creases and pointed tips
there are always mistakes
and a few rumpled edges
but the most important thing
is the trying and the flying