Your tender, tiny, twisted feet: paddle the sheet
Of air above you
In the babies ward
The nurse promises
A glance through the glass- that separates

I hear you cry
I crave – to hold
Your stretching hands
Little love
But we have to wait

Your mother is serious
So say the doctors
Let her recover from the pain
Of relapse
Till then your world is different

Bespectacled- bewildered and bemused
I watch you
Taking on my son
Your father who cries with joy
His head beneath my chin

My little Princess
I welcome you
To my world of relations-
Of your father and mother
And their father and mother

Be prepared for the photograph
With your parent and grandparents
To share later
With your companion one day
And then with your grandchildren