I Watch Them Amazed

I awoke this morning to the pulsing of a full house of sleeping people.  Know that feeling?  I can feel it when everyone is here, vibrating in their warm beds.  I wandered from room to room looking at the big, hairy thighs sticking out from my son's bed, and the dog's nose tucked into his armpit, her body almost as long as his.  In my daughter's room, she sleeps much more quietly, much more gently than he does.  Maybe it is the dog I hear snoring, but I think it's the boy....or the husband. I love this feeling, this is a holiday feeling.  No one having a sleep over, no other kids around on all surfaces and beds, just us.  There is a wonderful feeling of connection and love in this stillness.  Here's something I wrote.  Try it out:

 I watch them amazed

They are both so beautiful.

He well-muscled, seventeen, tousled hair, that smile.

She as tall as he, a slim beauty with long blonde hair,

a knock out at fourteen.

They are mine but even more,

they are each other’s.

He has loved her out loud even unborn,

my stethoscope in his ears, dancing to her heartbeat.

In those black batman boots, he sang to her and

offered his favorite toy when she arrived.

All these years have slipped like

shuffled cards through my hands

and here he is needing her advice on colleges,

making sure his girlfriend gets the nod.

And she initially teasing him so,

making him jump through hoops to love her,

but needing him too, watching his every move,

making him laugh, helping him write,

becoming a beauty he loves to defend.

What finer reward of parenting than love?

Theirs as sure a thing as Spring’s arrival,

as divine.