When you were little more than prayer, a whispered thought into the the air
I believed you were ever mine. And no one could make me let you go.
But when you were new and fresh and blessed
by unbending time, I rocked you until my arms grew tired
and your dreams begged their turn.
Because I had held you for a little while, but my love could hold you longer.
And then you grew, and soon you flew into a child I didn’t know,
aloft on the tops of trees, and I below,
watched you become your own.
And when you fell, I held you for a little while, but my love held you longer.
We walked for miles, hand in hand, over unfamiliar ground.
Until you soon grew stronger, and then your hands did let me go.
I held you for a little while, but my love will hold you longer.
And every day, as time wills, I watch you grow bigger still
and wonder when I’ll set you down,
no longer mine alone
with just a promise to leave for you, scarred into my bone.
Though I held you for a little while, my love will hold you longer.
Jackie Semmens 