Jabari Asim
My four-year-old son is watching Sponge Bob in French on the internet. He is proof that one needs not know how to read to navigate the net. He is proof that sometimes you get more than you hoped for, prayed for, deserve.
Days Ahead and Journeys
on a Saturday,
amid push and yell,
you arrived:
a dreamlike thing.
wet, cold, and cautious,
aching for the absent, blood-warm womb,
you peered through narrow eyes
into harsh lights, deep darks,
shifting shadows.
how strange the world must have seemed!
absorbed in the navigation of this newness,
the sound of your own excited voice,
the pumping in and out of air,
you could not have noticed
your father carefully counting
the ten tiny fingers,
the ten tiny toes.
he, too, was absorbed,
pleased by the perfect completion
of your voyage.
he removed himself
and left the life tending
to more experienced hands,
reluctant, but secure in his knowledge:
there will be time enough for touching
there will be days ahead and journeys.
Days Ahead and Journeys
on a Saturday,
amid push and yell,
you arrived:
a dreamlike thing.
wet, cold, and cautious,
aching for the absent, blood-warm womb,
you peered through narrow eyes
into harsh lights, deep darks,
shifting shadows.
how strange the world must have seemed!
absorbed in the navigation of this newness,
the sound of your own excited voice,
the pumping in and out of air,
you could not have noticed
your father carefully counting
the ten tiny fingers,
the ten tiny toes.
he, too, was absorbed,
pleased by the perfect completion
of your voyage.
he removed himself
and left the life tending
to more experienced hands,
reluctant, but secure in his knowledge:
there will be time enough for touching
there will be days ahead and journeys.