Today the sunset hour shifts.
Snow remains at the edges but there’s open ground
For the flocks of robins passing through.
I see them settle in the oak tree out my window
Then drop down to forage on the lawn.
Walking beside wetlands tall grass
We hear the red wing blackbird’s song.
The great migration is under way again.
The trill notes begin the symphony.
My youngest daughter turns 21 today.
There’s a bright comet under the crescent moon
That won’t return for 100 million years
If at all. Some
things happen once.
As she pointed out to me yesterday
One third of her life has now passed
Since the separation split her world
Though she used softer words to say it.
Life goes on. The
years cycle past.
People adjust to change.
The person
Who is my daughter is doing so well.
Adversity brought out the best in her.
I listen to her dinner table talk
Confident in her abilities
Passionate about her chosen life path
So ready to make her way in the world.
Her legal age changed at midnight
So she went out to get a first drink in a club.
While partying with her girlfriends in the city
The clock skipped ahead to the rest of her life.
