' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 'Here Now I Hold You(For Scarlett) Poem by Dónall Dempsey

Here now
I hold you

astonished at
your newness.

One hand
cups your bum

the other
cradles your head

you poop into my palm.

You smile
your smile

still unused to it
and its magic

wave a tiny lazy hand
as if you were royal

& I an adoring
subject.

The music of you
plays

in my mind
as if I were

a mechanical piano
notes played by invisible hands.

Your skull
has yet to get it together

the fontanelle pulsing
as if each thought could be seen

beating like a bird
against my hushed fingertips.

Years later
my hands so much older now

I cradle your crying
stroke your punk goth hair

as you weep
over your first 'real' boyfriend

(he obviously a jerk)

your constant wailing: 'Why...
... didn't it work! '

My fingertips
caressing where thought once pulsed

your sweet secret self
hidden from me now

in your growing up.