Sunday, July 6, 2014

To My Daughters at 12


There is no bridge to help you move safely to our side
Of life, where dreams stay in your sleep and imagination
Is only a slogan.  Still, you will find your way across
Even if I could cry a river of tears deep enough to block
Your crossing, yet

I fear what may happen as you both dive headlong
Into these waters stirred with the churning turbulence
Of your ripening. What your mother has done is best,
For she has submerged you, asked you to swim.
I watch you in the pools

Of Mililani, cavorting like twin dolphins, making more
Progress in a few minutes than I have made in a lifetime
Of struggling to stay afloat.  Someday, there will be no ocean
Too vast for you to cross.

March 2001


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