out of my arms

(for beatrice, 2015)

out of my arms, now,

but in my heart

i remember the start

two years longing, 

nine months waiting,

forty hours labouring,

and (oh welcome) 

there you were

i saw your face

and time stopped

from that moment, 

now, forever,

a mother

when a child is born

a mother is too

fiercely protecting

and gently drawing forth,

sometimes falling short

of what i wished to do

each day was new

the lesson: begin again

watching you grow

the days, the years slip by

like beads on a string

i blink and you are eighteen

out of my arms

and into the world