Today’s prompt is to write an occasional poem, that is, a poem for an occasion.

To My First Grandchild

I don’t know if I’ll still be alive when you’re born
or even if you will be born

don’t blame your parents
I told them not to have you before they married

I told them having children was a great responsibility
I told them not to have you until they really wanted you

I told them not to have you just because I wanted you

for years I’ve listened to other grandparents
talk about the joy of grandbabies

and wondered if I would ever experience that joy

I have the pleasure of my own five children
(and the sorrow of the three who withered in my womb)

but I long to smell your sweet baby breath 
to wonder anew at your tiny perfection

to watch you grow, to discover
how much you are like your parents
and how unlike them you are

if I’m gone before you get here
know I am watching from heaven
loving you and blessing you

©ARHuelsenbeck 2021