my granddaughter at four months

did your mother know how beautiful
you were floating like an astronaut
on your lifeline within her extended form
as she sang her starlit lullaby?

tiny hands flexed then
tiny legs pushed

now those same hands reach to grasp my fingers;
legs push down and lift you up
our eyes meet in wonder,
beaming, exalted at your accomplishment
both mouths open in delight.

~ Ben Nuttall-Smith

Ben Nuttall-Smith taught Music, Theatre, Art, and Language until he retired in 1991. He now lives in Crescent Beach, near Vancouver B.C., where he writes, paints, makes music, and travels with his best friend and soulmate. A member of both the Canadian Authors’ Association and the Federation of British Columbia Writers, Ben has published a memoir entitled The Chameleon Sings: Surviving and Healing from Childhood Sexual Abuse and two books of poetry: Word Painting and Splashes of Light. His current project is an historical novel about Quétzalcoatl of the Toltecs in the Tenth Century.

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