Athena

I promise
To keep you from cold
The kind of cold
That makes you feel helpless

The kind of cold
That’s here in wretched Chicago

I hope we live by the ocean
By the time you are old enough
To love it like I do

It’s New Year’s Day

I don’t do resolutions

To me
Those are the choices
That can’t be forced
They have to rise in their own time
Like soufflé
Or biscuits

But I want to promise you
A few things

Really
It’s early morning here
Your daddy is sleeping

And I just want to talk with you

My little dancer

You kick almost constantly
You roll and stretch

Cause me to yelp in public

I can feel
Everything

Sometimes I think
I can feel your tiny
Chest
Move up and down

Or what you’re thinking
Whether you are happy
Or sad
What song you like
Or if you think the person that’s talking to me
Is dopey

You seem already
To have a clear idea
Of what you want
What is worth your attention

What will or will not
Cause you to make Mommy barf

I promise
To support you
In what you love

In that thing
That wraps all your attention up tight

To help you reach
For what makes that mighty heart
Sing

Whether it’s
Adventure
Artistic insanity
Or doing people’s taxes

You never know
What life has in store
You can only know

What magic is inside you
And trust me
Darling girl

You are where the universe
Keeps its best

I worry that kids
will make fun of you at school
They do that
To most magical people

You will be
My child
“A stranger in a strange land”

Born of a love
That couldn’t wait
One more minute

With a divine spark all your own

You may find yourself
To be extraordinary

Sometimes
It will feel like more of a burden
Than a shiny gold star

I promise to remind you
Of it's true nature
When you forget

You are a great spirit

I can feel that already

“Great spirits
Often encounter
Violent opposition
From mediocre minds”

I hate to think
You will ever be ridiculed
For being great
Or having unconventional
Gypsy parents

A mother
Who chooses
Red
Instead of black

But that is really
What love is

Real love
Will bear mockery
Like a butterfly

Your little kicks
And your eventual
Blinks
Into the light

Make me sure

Having you
Is worth
Any dream
Or fancy party

And certainly
Any mean kids on the playground

I hate to tell you
But love
Is everything

God is love
And He is everything

And you don’t have to be married
Or of any certain
Race
Or creed
Or religion

To feel that
To know it

My dear
Whatever your path

Whatever woman you grow to be

Whomever you love

I promise

I will love you
Always
Without exception
And without reserve
Or hesitation

I will catch you if I can
Help you to jump better next time

I can speak for your father

He loves you
Like long nights
Finally gazing on sunrise

You have been cradled
And kissed
And crooned to

As you karate chop my belly

More than most people get
Their entire lives
Post-utero

He touches my stomach now
Looks up at me in genuine wonder
Wonder that is so preciously rare

Real wonder

And you kick and squirm
And eventually rest
Under his hand

Just like your Mommy

Your father is the kindest soul
I have met on earth

He is a renaissance of Eden
Wrapped in a scruffy beard
Long hair

Lots of western snap shirts

I promise he will always
Love you with kindness
And possibly take a shotgun
Or worse
To anyone who wounds you

He will sing to you
All your life

Bring you tea
When you can’t sleep
Kiss your hair
When you think the world
Is crumbling

My beautiful daughter
I pray
Silently
With every breath
And every beat of my heart

That you will be blessed
That your days
Will be colored with happiness
And peace
And enough struggle

That lions
Will clamp their mouths shut
In your presence

Wander sheepishly to you side
For a good ear scratch

I promise to teach you
what I have learned
About God

But don’t worry

My darling girl

You won’t have to look very far for him
He will always find you
Never forsake you
He will fill the hotel room like voids
That would threaten to swallow you

With the warm smell of ginger and cinnamon
And the certainty
That you are never alone

He is the beginning
And the end

I promise
To trust my instincts
To protect you
From monsters
And mediocrity
And processed food

To teach you the awesomeness
Of growing
your own food from the earth
Of hard work
And simple joys

I promise to show you
Quality
Over quantity

And when you piss me off
I promise
To get over it

To sigh and to smile
To kiss your forehead
And take you to look at trees

In the same moment
I promise
To never let you be bratty
Or obnoxious
Or degrade into the annoying human
That no one wants at the dinner table

I will correct you
Even if it makes you hate me
For a spell

I will be your mother
Before I’m your friend

I promise
To love myself
So you will know how

To love what you see
Those moments
When you see yourself

Other than
This rather long
Emotional
Tome

I promise
To cook your favorite meal on your birthday

Try to admit
When I’m wrong

To never
Make you hug anyone you don’t want to

To write you letters

And make you take the crusts
Off your own sandwiches