Nici In My Life Poem by Margaret Alice Second

I stared at my little baby all through
the first night of her life, still in shock
that the little darling was part of me
and now lived and breathed on her
own, my life was not the same, so
much better with the little claimant
on my time and energy

If she cried incessantly I put her in
a kangaroo bag around my neck
and tilled the garden while bits of
dirt flitted down on her sleeping
face and I knew I had an angel
with me, I took her everywhere
I went, especially the library

She surprised us when it came out
she told the teacher her mother said
she need not learn at school, I had
to backtrack and explain that society
and law require us to spend time
learning and though the value was
limited, she had to learn too

Before long she read and wrote
on her own, her life was a secret
of what happened at school and
where she went with her friends,
soon she abused her parents in
the time-honoured tradition of
teenagers everywhere

On 12 September she turns 18, she
still looks so young but underneath
has a will of steel, her naughty tricks
delights me, I'm amazed to see how
disciplined and overbearing she is,
a revelation of how young people
think when raised conservatively

She is still studying before spreading
her wings, a wonderful friend teaching
her mother how to be cool - though the
project is doomed - with Nici in my life
I am blessed, her determined little
face still enchants me no end…

Happy Birthday Nici!