gift of light
December 8, 2011
“little bit cozy jammas wear”
my barely 2 year old towheaded yoda
though your wisdom may be great
“it is a bit too cold outside to explore in footsy pajamas”
“i love you big ocean”
“i love you as big as the ocean too”
so at least put a coat on
“i WEeeeEEEeee”
yes, you love to climb that tree
and hang upside down
swing from your bending branch
and drop to the ground
follow your sister’s lead into adventure
you could survive the apocalypse
because you have survived her
leap! – learn flexibility
from that miraculous little maple tree
throw open the door
and walk into the kitchen like a gunslinger into a saloon
bow-legged in your boots
climb into my lap and wrap my sweatshirt around you
“brrrr, i cold”
a shiver, a crooked grin
pink perfect lips blue eyes sparkle
the morning sun streams onto the patio
onto the frost on the fence we went out to examine
and it turns from ice to smoke
never bothering with water
have i never seen this before?
or is it just you
our gift of light
“i wish my heart could melt like that”
“Hannah heart smoke.”
yes, your sister’s heart is a flame
and you are golden
reflecting that flame and every light
that comes near you, no matter how dim
even mine
“oh, I Love You.”
– Your Daddy
Circumstantially Wonderful 
December 14, 2011 at 7:29 am
I miss you beautiful people! I miss your cannon ball/rubber ball daughters! This post is a great example of what I cherish in our relationship. It is a beautifuly deep and thoughtful expression of love- and a bit mystical with the liquid straight to gas mention (awesome)- love you shawn, love you rebekah, love you girls.
Bart
December 14, 2011 at 10:42 pm
“Hannah heart smoke.”
yes, your sister’s heart is a flame
and you are golden………
What lovely thoughts about your two girls. I just pulled these two ideas out (and could have done it with more) as being poetic and pulling me into the writing. Thanks for that.
Bryan
December 15, 2011 at 2:23 pm
Shawn,
As a father of two daughters, I think this poem may be one of the most touching things you have written. It’s beautiful and reminds me of how much I love my kids.
Just last night I was sitting on the couch w/ my 2 girls reading “Emma Dilemma”. Have you read it? It’s a children’s book of poems. Both girls listened to the entire book. At the end we all sat silent for a moment.
I finally spoke and said, “That was good wasn’t it?” They both shook their heads. I said, “Good writers can make us feel something when they write.”
That’s what your poem did for me.
December 16, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Thank You All so much
it was a fun one to write
i always think writing adults poems or songs about our kids
is the most fun and satisfying
not many deeper or more important topics to write about
and certainly nothing closer to our hearts or thoughts or
just our day to day existence than our children
everything else we think or believe or struggle with
comes to this: how we love and teach our children
where the existential comes out to play with real life
December 16, 2011 at 12:09 pm
uuhhh…, yah
blah blah blah
what i really mean to say is thank you.
December 17, 2011 at 9:08 pm
Your love of them shows in your understanding of them. Mom