Cherishing Moments

Coo COO coop
coo COO coop
coo COO coop

Hollow calls issue forth from the milky grey breast of a ring necked dove perched on the wire high above me. An answer echos back to him from the neighbor's tree. Coo COO coop...

Their exchange continues as I watch my girls run around in the grass of our backyard. The world around us is green and full of blossoms. White petals flutter down in a swirling shower with every breeze that passes through our apple trees. Overhead, seagulls circle and scream. They are pearly specks soaring in the sunlight high, high above us, their white wings flashing against the deep blue rain clouds which have not yet broken. The sky is brilliant, dazzling azure behind the woolly clouds. Laughter rings out across the grass and the air in which these giggles hang, to me forever suspended, is fresh and sweet. New life.

I pull back the wrap and gaze at the face of my baby, snuggled against my breast. Her cheek is smooth and pink, her lips pursed, as though ready for a kiss.

Nearby, her sisters play.

-"Oooh, 'ders a bug, it's a bug! Come 'yook at it!" Says the Little One, squatting on the ground.

"Oh, I think that's probably a nice bug. It won't hurt us. " The Wise One says matter-of-factly as she goes back to picking dandelion "foofs."

"Oooh, 'yook 'dat bug, Mommy, it not hurt us." The Little One runs to me, pointing. It is a harmless box-elder bug in the grass. "-It never never not hurt us?" She asks me after a moment, to be sure. Brow furrowed in her classic look of consternation. Dark hazel eyes so very serious.

"No," I say, "never never."

She runs off to explore some more and I sit back watching them with amusement.

The doves have flown off, but all around us Spring is still bursting -bursting forth like bird song. Creeping out of every crevice, over every mossy rock.

And I am thankful today.

Handprints

How many hand prints,
sticky and small,
have I washed from the TV,
the table and walls?

How many of these
do I wipe in a day,
from the countertops, mirror,
and windows away?

On curtains, the bathtub,
the fridge and the chair,
-there are little prints
stuck about everywhere!

Shall I not miss them
someday when they're gone?
To have clean furniture
that was once smeared upon?

Spotless windows,
dirt-less doors,
print-less, grime-less,
stick-less floors...

Or will I be lonely
when they've gone away,
because they're reminders
of sweet, joy-filled days?..

Of chocolatey kisses,
sloppy and sweet,
of rumple-curled hair
that can never stay neat.

Of mud-crusted arms
thrown around Mommy's neck,
of the day we ate watermelon
out on the deck.

Popsicle stained faces
from hot summer noons,
fingers and elbows
just dripping with juice!

Cereal-milk stains
from eating with spoons,
as we snuggle in blankets
watching cartoons...

Yes, I WILL miss those hand prints
when the kids have all grown,
but I won't be too sad,
You will see,

For preserved deep inside me,
in finger-paint art,
they have left little hand prints
all over my heart
and these I keep always with me,
with me,
these I keep always with me~

Copyright Jacquelyn Bytyqi 2012