Let's be like this

You spin until you fall

Kick your legs

Wave your hands

while I play the chords

and we sing into

a wildflower burst

I am nervous

I want to do everything right

Dot all my i’s

Cross all my t’s

So nothing goes wrong

You clap and hop

bang the drum

Hair in your face,

Suck your thumb

I lose myself

in your bird song

I feel guilty

I want to sit on the couch

But I push boulders, climb crags

So I can’t possibly stress

About what comes next

When we write songs

Your letters look like lollipops

I feel like I have wings

When you push brushes

Through paint while I sing

Tiny details exhaust me

Swings and mud and maracas let me be

In this world of do do do

Saying yes to you sets me free

We spin and sing and collapse in the field

I whisper into your tiny hand,

Let’s be like this forever.

I let myself say no

to everything for a minute

On our backs, feet in the sky

I let everything go

These poems are part of the Cultivating Poetry Project, in which I write for those who need poems for many reasons in their lives, including those in parenthood, grief and loss, chronic pain and fatigue, and those in need of a change or healing.

All poems and images are the property of the poet, Sharon Frances.

Do not use in part or whole without permission.