Relentless and Full of Grace

It was your graduation

and friends pooled in their eddies

of ranked popularity

You've grown so much

and not the girl I once

lifted and spun carousel

your feet exalting to the sky

The card lay open by the cake

spread wide with well wishes

scrawled in colored markers

reminders of present sentiment

'2 good 2B forgotten' one writes

with broad pink hearts

But some will, my sweet niece

Forget that is

You'll learn this in time

and it will be okay

Life will be full of little thievings

but this you already know

Your Dad would be

so proud of you this day

The young woman he saw

in his dreams

when he beheld

your infant gaze

and all the world's longing for you

focused into tear welled eyes

The hope of all things that mattered forever

as he cradled you

so small and infinite

in new father's arms

And it's not your fault he left

March 13

A Monday it was

For some will lose their horizons, child

when the world becomes too loud

or too cruel

You will understand this too

in time

I stand over the table

with a marker in my hand

I chose blue

but for no reason other than

it's not red

“Be relentless and full of Grace”

I write it small and off to the side

and the day murmured with hope