Freeze-frame
Across the room you catch my eye,
bouncy curls bobbing, glinting sun,
chubby hands clutching, waving spoon,
secret laugh bubbling, casting joy,
and I want to stop time,
freeze-frame your innocence,
your toddlerhood,
this moment,
forever.
So I try.
I pick up the camera.
Snap.
Reframe.
Zoom.
Adjust the lighting.
Try another angle.
Snap again
and again
and again.
But I cannot capture
the way the fading sun fingers your golden curls,
painting a second sunset in my kitchen;
the way the twinkle in your honey eyes sparks,
and I see my grandmother winking there;
the way your coy giggle spins and curls and winds
across the room, around my heart.
At last, suddenly wiser, I stop trying.
I put down the camera,
and sit down across from you,
and drink you in,
and share your secret joke,
and we laugh,
and I know, somehow,
that I have finally caught the moment,
and my heart will always remember.
Beautiful, Elizabeth! My eyes are filled with tears- of course- like they always are when I read your poetry. So richly described and heartfelt.
Thanks, Lisa. Totally cried while I was writing this one. xoxo
LOVE THIS LOVE THIS! And my daughters are young adults… makes me miss those moments when they were young and little! You captured the beauty so much!
Thank you! Oh, I know I will blink and my kids will be young adults, too!
So beautiful and so true! Such a great job painting this picture through your words!
Thanks, Adrienne! xoxo
Gorgeous! You are my favorite poet 🙂
Thanks, Emma! (Blushing.)