Alison’s Rondeau (on her fourth birthday)

Have I blessed you, oh little one,
Sweet sleeping child, my Alison?
Each night I pause to watch you sleep,
To touch your cheek and pray you keep
Your presence warm as morning sun.

The girl is mother of the woman,
Her birth as troubled as this one,
This one who guards your slumber deep.
Have I blessed you?

Your dreams upon the night winds run,
Your life with me will soon be done.
The day will come, my heart will leap
For joy or pain you sow or reap,
As woman born, new life begun.
Have I blessed you?

October 4, 1983