A workday morning,
time to begin the frantic to and fro
get up! get dressed! eat your breakfast!
hurry, please hurry, we need to hurry
can't you see
that time is racing, time is slipping
away, away, away ...

she rubs her sleepy eyes
and reaches out
to hug me tight
words get stuck in my throat
I take a breath
and hug her back

There's only time
to check off the items
on the mental list
suddenly the baby smiles
and tells me "hiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
with all the world's enthusiasm
and I now I've lost my place
because I'm laughing
and holding her tight
smile for me!
smile so bright
Brighten even this frantic soul

Let's go, time to go, we need to go now!
Hurried goodbyes and missed kisses
tugging at hands and clothes and shoes
I'm on to the next thing before finishing
this thing, thing, thing ... what was I doing?
Oh please hurry
out the door and into a day brilliantly bright
into the truck and down the road
she frowns and slumps into her chair
picking at her zipper and staring out the window

Here we are, lets go, remember your jacket
Unlock the door and undo the seatbelts
I lift her high and the sun flashes in my eyes
oh look at the blue skies ... no time!
Hold her hand and we head through the door
hurried polite hello's and off to the classroom we go
a teacher hands me an award
"She's a star!"
She's doing so well, she's very funny and she
lights up the classroom
Only a nod and a tight smile from me
time for me to go, tell me goodbye
"Oh wait she made something for you."
I pause and bend down to see
She looks at the floor as she hands me the card
"Happy Father's Day" she says in a little shy girl voice

Suddenly, it's time to pause
I exhale and feel the blood pounding
the room spins and halts,
everything snaps into focus
my pretty little girl takes my hand
and I smile, a smile to beam my love
I clear my throat
and ask her how she made it
and she gleefully launches into the details

A time to pause
and notice ...

: Permalink

Published: (2006-06-16 15:23:16.0)

I've been away on paternity leave (a big thank you to Sun and to the state of California!) A once in a lifetime opportunity to spend time with my daughter and watch her develop and blossom.

I'm trying out the Performancing for Firefox plug-in. It's a blog editor that sits right within Firefox. So far it's pretty neat. We'll see how it goes.

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Published: (2006-06-16 11:27:48.0)