In May

Dear little girl,

on the cusp of being grown.

Hear me laugh,

hear me groan.

On the day you

came into my life,

into this world,

and into my heart.

With the sound of my labor

in that crowded birth room,

chattered the sparrows

at the birth of dawn.

Bitterness birthed shock

morning brought joy.

For you had arrived

at the song of the morning.

You made me a mom

before I knew who I was.

You made my heart burst

before I knew that love could.

Dear little girl,

who's not so little now

let me love you as little

let me love you as grown.

Dear little girl,

young cusp of womanhood

I'll love you for you

as long as I'm me.

I'll love the way you care

for the little,

the wounded,

the weak.

I'll love the way you

hunger deeply and thirst

for righteousness.

For you shall be filled.

I love how you ask,

you wonder, you learn.

You seek His kingdom

before many other things

And hold proudly the role

of nurture and sister

of firstborn

of love.

You're strong and you're smart.

Just don't forget how you're loved

just for little you,

no matter your doing.

So keep on keeping on,

as we mark these ten years

of your life and my heart

Both birthed on that morning

in May.