Little niece of mine,
the first time I held you I briefly understood
why people have children. The weight
of you, all 5 pounds ½ ounce of you, felt
like the whole of this blue Earth in my arms,
and the sound of your sleeping breath must
have been the sound Existence made
when the first amino acids clung to one another,
and the heat of your tiny body must have been
the heat of the first explosion to spill it all
out into the void of before, and when
your little hand came up and squeezed
my index finger, I understood
why the stars must have given their carbon to make us.
the first time I held you I briefly understood
why people have children. The weight
of you, all 5 pounds ½ ounce of you, felt
like the whole of this blue Earth in my arms,
and the sound of your sleeping breath must
have been the sound Existence made
when the first amino acids clung to one another,
and the heat of your tiny body must have been
the heat of the first explosion to spill it all
out into the void of before, and when
your little hand came up and squeezed
my index finger, I understood
why the stars must have given their carbon to make us.