These days I sleep with shoulders up
And my jaws clenched tight
As though I could ward off trouble
Grinding teeth throughout the night
My molars are protected
By a little plastic guard
But there’s no mouthguard for my brain –
The empath life is hard
To Baby Iain
We’re sending the warmth
Of the sun as it shines
And the smell of tomatoes
That grow on the vines
The chill of the water
On plants so they’ll grow
We’re thinking of you
And though you don’t know
The sound of the wind
Or the bird with his song
We’re sending you summer:
Grow healthy and strong
Nap Anxiety
Getting things done while the baby naps
Is always a bit of a scramble
You never know how long she will sleep
So it’s also a bit of a gamble
Meals or mess or mindfulness
You cannot do them all
So make your pick and do it quick
Before you hear her call
Molars
To everything
There is a season
They say ‘erupting’
For a reason
Captain Sarah
Sarah’s going vroom vroom vroom
On her airplane in our living room
I send a pic across the sea
To our distant family
Someday she will ride a jet
But that day isn’t coming yet
Alas, we do not know quite when
‘Til then, I guess, we’ll just pretend
It’s Not Them, It’s Us
It’s easy to talk about prejudice
That belongs to other folks
We know that we aren’t like that
And we feel so very woke
But until we take a hard look
And our actions and our speech
A world without that bias
Will be always out of reach
The Maternal Perspective
As I look upon my daughter
Blinded as I am by love
I think about the One
Who looks upon me from above
Every speck of her is sacred
That’s the truth of what I see
Though I’m full of fault and failings
Is that what You see in me?
On Smiles
It feels like a sin to smile
As the pandemic rages on
But if we forget how to smile
What will we do when it’s gone?
Nassawango Creek
If you ever go canoeing
On Nassawango Creek
Go in early summer
When the fringe trees are at peak
As you paddle through the cypress knees
Watch for a flash of bright:
A prothonotary warbler
All in yellow, taking flight
UUCCWC
I miss the Eastern window
Where the summer sunlight streams
The bright blue banners hanging
From the solid ceiling beams
I miss the colored cushions
On the well-worn wooden pews
But I mostly miss the people
Singing songs that I once knew
Emily Adkins Bostian 