Happy Adopt'cha Day

Honesty: I'm struggling to get out of 

The cadence of poetry.

I want to write a story, 

one about Abby’s adoption,

But the flow of writing sentences is muddled,

Is being hijacked by the rhythm 

of sing-song rhyme.  

The giddy up of poet's line

And lyric and beat and marching of time

Keep cutting in, keep trying to steal this dance

Of the very story I want to write

Of this memory’s great romance.

I want to write of Abby 

and our choice to make her ours.

Of the struggle she knew and how she grew

To meet us where we are.

She came to us with fists clenched tight

Her body tense and her voice at the height

Of piercing ears and grinding nerves

And demanding our attention

A little soul racked by pain 

of another’s ill-intention.

I want to write of that girl, 

whisked away that very day

From a place of harm, 

to our loving arms

By a worker, bless his heart, 

on his very first placement case

A savior of sorts that defining day

Of new stories, of a fresh start.

Holding her, it seemed, was all we could do

my wife always moving, always carrying, 

never putting her down, it seemed.

She cooked with her strapped 

so close to her chest

All day long this momma was nest

That nurtured and coddled and brought back to life

This little baby girl, this tiny precious...life.

Yellow duck raincoat and hot chicken soup

Piano and Sax and ole Ramen noodle

Carving out clay and sucking on things - 

I just took her out and gave her a ring!

We chose her that day and 

we choose her still

We’ll choose her forever,

I know that we will…

...Because we already have.

Can you think of a time when you knew you were chosen? I'd love to hear!