Poem

               I wrote this in the late 1990's for a little poetry contest.  When I found it last week I 

               thought it was for Sara.  But maybe for Jordan. Either way.  (Barbies?  A little 

               poetic license.)

                                            To a Determined Daughter

                        My beautiful baby, I bundled close before you hurried,

                        Tumbling into the world, busy, bustling, eyes bright.

                                            Patty-cake, patty-cake, baker's man.

                        Welcoming life with open arms and your own glowing ideas,

                         You took on the world of Big Bird and Big Wheels.

                                             Sunny day, everything's A-OK.

                         Then blazing through school, new friends, Barbies,

                         You were a match for playground bullies--and rules.

                                             My mother, your mother lived across the street.

                          Yearning, burning in adolescent defiance you raged past all

                          Authority, demanding why--forging paths in new ground.

                                             Cannons to the right!  Cannons to the left!

                          And I, watching, worrying, wondering,

                          Prayed, pondered, through days of doubting, until

                          Graced now in young womanhood the fire that is you

                          Grows brighter still.  No mere candle, but a beacon on a hill.