Bonding

I respond to you 1,278 times in a day

See you, feed you, bounce you, burp you, swaddle you, change you, bathe you,

hold you, soothe you, sway you, rock you, kiss you, kiss you, kiss you 382 times a day

I am here,

for you

your little eyes look into me,

nearly expressionless, with so much thinking going on

we recognize each other,

as if it’s been years,

in these first few days.

we study each other’s faces,

memorizing what is forever changing

until you’re all worn out from the looking

and your body melts into mine

and then your eyes close again

and your breathing lengthens

as does mine

we are becoming familiar with one another

though we’ve had nine months growing together

separate now, we are attaching

nuances of your personality are expressed in your needs

and I’m falling in love with everything

though you have nothing of reciprocity to offer

no smiles, no words to say thanks

my gratitude and hope so big I could burst

for a life just beginning

your breathing is all I need to keep going

Thrive little one!

Eat, cry, sleep, grow, scream for what you need

I will seek to give it to you,

learn the language of your cries,

speak sweet words you’ll only understand in tones

you can trust me, sweet one

throughout long days and tiresome nights

I will care for you, give to you, know you, love you,

your whole life long

this and so much more

I am blessed to give

because you

You, my love

are the magnum opus

the great work

the masterpiece of this life

I have co-created an eternal soul

and how divine it is to be a witness and worker

in these first days of life (and forevermore)

when you are so fragile, and fully alive

hoping for decades of days

20,000 or more

with you my love