my songbird
has her final
choir recital
this evening
and while every
part of me
longs to see her
spread her wings
and fly

she is my
baby girl

i know
i cannot stop
this world from
enacting the price
it takes from
each of us
i cannot be there
to hold her
or protect her
from every stray
arrow flung

i cannot

i am beyond
proud of the woman
she is becoming
and i know she
will leave her
signature on
great works of art

but she is my
greatest work
her and her not so
little brother
who is not far
from escape himself

and i cannot
think about that
not now as hot
tears run free
hours before the
first of the final
notes are sung

she is magnificent

i just want to
keep her to myself
a little longer
and i cannot

my sweetest girl
one last recital
the last one viewed
through a veil
of the happiest tears
turned bittersweet
as a fool has to
learn to let go

my songbird
a baby girl
no more