My Pernickety daughter
Contributed by
buchi
on
Friday, 18th June 2004 @ 08:30:57 PM in AEST
Topic:
StoryPoetry
|
You literally inched into my heart, before you were born.
You were not my "fetus", you were, my child.
Playfully existing in this body of mine.
Kicking and rotating with your somersaults.
A newborn baby girl was gently placed in my arms.
Nine-pound culmination, of my yearning on April 9th.
Incomparably adorable, visibly dainty, my little one.
Now, a mommy, I was, assigned an additional role.
Winding up an era of slapdash and “ child-free."
Definitely, you were your daddy, all the way through.
Unfolding, your personality of genetic legacy.
Enfant terrible, throughout babyhood to toddler.
Oh-so-transient a joy, this honor of motherhood.
“Having Fun", to sum up was higgledy-piggledy.
Mom remains grounded, down-at-heel and nurse.
Ever more lactation, sleep deficit and bushed.
Roused every night, by agonizing howls.
Stemmed from first cold, first tooth and woe.
Your first step, marshaled further qualms.
Panic, if you microscopically skinned a knee.
Draw a modus operandi, for timely toilet tuning.
"On the ball” for hints, evident stomach-turning.
This phase of your remotely “ RESEMBLING FUN”.
Chugged away Sesame Street, for diction savoir-faire.
Decode, nom de plumes, akin to peepee, and booboo.
Animated yaks and kowtow, on a whim, I, an ad-lib shrink.
Cyclic elucidations unwrapped a well-bred genius.
Your early forays into nursery school clearly demonstrated.
Stanch originality and tittle-tattle with startling clarity.
Kindergarten ushered in Disney and Winnie the Pooh.
Assumed a "Princess” inspired by Cinderella and sleeping beauty.
Innocuous preference for classy outfits and fairy tale existence.
Rapt by royal wedding “A Prince” was your first spousal choice.
Reflectively say "Mom, I'm going to marry YOU when I grow up!"
Furthermore amused, by your second proposal, to boot.
Unthinkingly declared, “And then I want to marry Daddy, as well”.
Yen for acrobatics was evident by neurotically bouncing on beds.
As a result, furniture transformed into a veritable trampoline.
Soon you advanced from a toddler to a charismatic daughter.
"Branching” into elfin subtleness, enjoyable, and trouble-free.
A decision to bestow upon you a rank of an elder sister.
Even out, “Together, we are three of us, fair enough, one more.”
A genetic legatee, a brother, just three years junior, on August 10.
Recognize, that "Equal" is not always synonymous with "the same."
Everything considered, catholic which I would soon venerate.
Soon you metamorphosed into cumbersome adolescence.
Foraging the real world, with your own, "frames of reference".
Unbound by customs and confines underlying ethnicity, and family.
Teens jacked up a quest to bay a “quality human" against all odds.
Unpredictably, a cherished phase of your childhood, it was.
Being a rapt booklover, uncovered a “self-motivated bestseller”.
Sweet 16 birthday, you desired a quite one, with family.
Together we speculated on germane choices openly.
You teased, inconsistencies in all that we said and done.
However, worked so very hard, towards your endeavors.
Wrapped up, high school, as popularly elected valedictorian.
A believer, of feminine rights, to choose the seeds to nurture.
Unwavering dictum of “Just say, no” was your survival truism.
You plotted out a future in the most vaunted ivory tower of academe.
Life, away from home, it was childhood's end, that day.
"Off to college,” no more kibosh’s on the carefree.
Equipped and determined to join” Women in Engineering”.
Challenged, with life choices, sentient to “ life is one's own.”
You could leap the hurdles of programmed expectations.
Boundless possibilities conferred your might, my little girl.
Long ago since the age of three, bloomed a child to a woman.
Valiantly, against overwhelming odds you pursued.
Graduated an icon, encouraging women in the engineering field.
That day transpired with your crucial unparented decision.
Flummoxed us, about a proposal from unnamed prince.
Familiar, to you for some years, and yearning to tie the knot.
You amusingly affirmed our impermeable approval of our future son-in-law.
Jokingly stating that he was not a “ware wolf or Dracula.”
“I am sure you will love him once you get to know him." you quipped.
Not having a clue, this prince who never met your parents.
Cautiously, dismissive to this prospective life partner.
He confirmed his earnest intent with a telephone call.
Flew in, to your parent’s court to ask permission to wed.
We certainly looked forward to meeting this young man.
The 1967 movie,” Guess who's coming to Dinner?” crossed my mind.
A handsome, young adult, wearing tee shirt and tan short.
Instantly, charmed us, wearing an expression, of courteous apprehension.
Undoubtedly, well-educated, clean-shaven American he was.
What mattered most was, “how long has he known our daughter?”
Vowing to commit his life to a "big picture" instead of the details.
No doubt, his equanimity, an unqualified indicator of genuine love.
A mathematical savant, he calculated the time of three year.
1,038 days, 16 hours 11 minutes and 34 seconds, affinity, to you.
Accept each other, for what you are, respect each other, for what you are not.
It is a way of life, a survival cipher, to a true, righteous marriage.
Equipped with a diamond ring and an implicit "Welcome to the family, son,”
Reassured, he flew back, “my daughter’s guardian, for the rest of his life”.
He makes you erudite and so do you.
He was, not about what you can get, but what you can give.
Inspired by your father’s desire, a wedding, reflective of your roots.
Bruce and Aparna had a traditional Hindu wedding.
A fusion of east and west, history and culture, en bloc.
A selection, appropriate, sophisticated and simple in many ways.
With few relatives and friends, including soon-to-be relatives.
Garlands and mantras added Hindu flourishes to your wedding day.
A heavenly, fairy, was my first imprint, upon seeing you a Hindu bride.
The marriage of a daughter is indeed not the loss of a daughter but a gain of a son.
I bless you my little one with this old axiom: “now you are two persons but there is only one life before you.”
Until I choose to stir up memories, some day.
In addition, convey, acuity, from the confines of my brain.
I proudly maintain, “I have known you longer than anyone can in the world.”
What once was never shall be… stands the test of time.
Mommy
Copyright ©
buchi
... [
2004-06-18 20:30:57]
(Date/Time posted on
site)
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