The midwife’s tidying up <br />with professional detachment <br /> <br />and there you are; wrinkled; pink <br />with a glow that no man ever made; <br /> <br />and I, a part of you for ever, yet <br />knowing, now, you’re you… <br /> <br />one day in a little time <br />I’ll take you for your first High Street outing <br />in the pram or baby buggy; <br /> <br />trying to pretend you’re someone else’s… <br />not one I’d fight my life for.. <br /> <br />pausing to allow some friendly soul <br />to glance permission to have a peep; <br /> <br />smile; glow; say a few kind words; <br /> <br />then after that first stranger’s looked at you, <br />I’ll look at you myself; to see <br /> <br />if you look different, or look differently at me <br />now someone else has met you. <br /> <br />Sometimes, you are more beautiful, <br />more full of life, more independent and more you; <br /> <br />as if your path through life had taken <br />its first step away from me; and yet <br /> <br />along with pride, there’s quiet, sweet relief: <br />you’ll make it on your own. <br /> <br />But still, I touch your pillow, smooth your cover, <br />look at you for some reassurance <br /> <br />that we both know where poetry may go; <br />and you – you laugh, and kick the world away.<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-a-new-born-poem/
