By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes
Seven Poems Learned As A Stay-At-Home Father
Eight minutes
for sunlight to kiss earth
An unborn child’s love
reaching her father
before hands touch
the clock face of birth
~
Umbilical cords may be cut
but crying infants
cause a mother’s uterus to contract
~
When a child has her
grandmother’s toes
a uncle’s chin grandpa’s eyes
she is eternal life
~
Sound of sunlight –
rain on car rooftops –
my daughter’s first word
–
Outgrown
sweaters stocking caps
At two years old
a toddler is already leaving
home
–
Linear time ends
in laundromats
one thread spinning into another
permanently pressing
forever unfolding
love’s labor
–
Only four-year-old girls
can soothe worried fathers
with the words:
“You don’t have to be afraid Daddy
turn on the lights!”