for my daughter I would like to say something about this joy I feel from knowing you are alive in the world sometimes in your bedroom other times the trees alone acknowledge me but no matter because you are somewhere even without me the lines of you not like smoke like permanent marker the un- mistakable shape, the shape of my love the shape of my body not mothers or sisters I share that only with you There is a picture I’m holding you next to the mailbox There is a picture of you sitting in the orchard just before you tried to run She’ll always come back, I thought drawn in as it were by the earthquake of my love shaking not with fear but with delight because you are. With your short hair and your doe-eyed twinkle twitching your way through some forest or other some wooded haven I can almost see my coiled love for you releasing and releasing as sails fill with unfamiliar air you cut your teeth on beach glass remember deer tracks in the sand and following to learn the story look how deep the marks all night I smash bottles against rocks so you will always have something to search for. The possibilities are
Crystal C. Karlberg is a Library Assistant at her local public library in Massachusetts. She is a speaker for Greater Boston PFLAG. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Beloit Poetry Journal, Nixes Mate, and Oddball Magazine.
**We do our best to preserve the integrity of each poem; however, due to programming limitations, some poems may read differently on a mobile phone and in certain browsers. For best viewing, use Chrome on a desktop/laptop.