APPLE-TEMPTING NEW:
A TASTY TRIBUTE TO NEW LIFE
By
Jackie O’Donnell
For my parents and all who dare to embark on parenthood. And for Brian, who is our miracle child in so many ways.
Apple-Tempting New: A Tasty Tribute to New Life
Copyright © 2009 by Jackie O’Donnell
All rights reserved.
Smashwords Edition 1.0, February 2009
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
A Doctor’s Smile
Prenatal Lesson
Navel Assault
To One Not Yet Born
Bonding
Original Grace
First Tear
Not Tonight
Meeting Grandma
My Fairy Friend
Daddy Express
Jungle Animal
First Birthday
First Steps
Shoes
Kamikaze Snowflakes
Parades
My Grandpa Wears a Halo
Hiccup!
Visit to Santa
The Real Truth about the Real World
INTRODUCTION
Babies don’t come with instruction manuals. That’s a good thing. Otherwise, new parents would treat the life entrusted to them with too much seriousness, to the unfortunate point of missing the joys and learning experiences both they and their little bundle are stumbling into. Sadly, they would fail to recognize that everything they’ve grown to take for granted is, once again, totally apple-tempting NEW.
What happens to us parents, though, starts long before the actual birth-day. Our bodies and moods change (yes, even Dad’s). We learn new things about ourselves and our emotions. That’s why this book begins early, when that little seed of potential settles into our bodies and begins to change our lives.
You are invited to look at the world in a different way, through a brand-new person’s eyes. Sometimes that person is the baby; sometimes it’s the new parents trying to cope with the little creature and the delight/dismay/confusion/ joy that tiny individual brings.
These verses are offered for your enjoyment, whether you’re a mom or dad, grandma or grandpa, doting aunt or uncle. Those of us who are older, having lived through this strange experience of anticipating and loving a little person, can look back with tears of joy, triumph, nostalgia, and, yes, maybe a smidgen of relief that it’s behind us.
Would I want to go through it again? Of course! I admit to my desire for my son, who is responsible for the contents of this book, to find a loving wife and start a family. When that happens, and I see their joyful perplexity, I look forward to reliving his first bites of life, and probably encouraging even bigger mouthfuls.
* * * * * * * * *
The Doctor Smiled
Today is the day your doctor smiled--
The first time in sixteen long weeks.
“We think the immediate danger has passed,"
He said in his medical-speak.
So dour-eyed and melancholy was he,
So cautious in that sterile chrome room.
It was hard for me, not yet feeling you move,
To banish that gray, bog-like gloom.
His smile melted down the painfully cold eyes
That always demanded I cope,
Turning the hardness that centered my being
Into hope, magical HOPE!
* * * * * * * * *
Prenatal Lesson
Mommy and Daddy went off to school
To learn to have a baby.
After each and every class
We'd sigh and say, "Well, maybe...."
We thought we knew how to lie down
And breathe, but I beg your pardon:
We found ourselves (deservingly so)
Back in kindergarten.
The exercises they had me do,
Coach Daddy by my side,
Flexed each muscle, toning it well,
And made me think it died.
They showed us films meant to inform,
Though parts were not easy to take;
They told us about the choices we had.
Again we began to quake.
Two months later it was all worthwhile:
We'd had our little baby.
Thank God nine months ago we'd loved
Instead of saying, "Well, maybe....”
* * * * * * * * *
Navel Assault
You stole my navel!
It was there yesterday, I think.
Today, though, the swirling abyss
Can't hold one fibril of lint.
I can trace its outline
With a curious finger
Skating across the taut mountain
That serves as your home.
But I liked my navel--
For flirting above a swimsuit,
Refining my too-much-waste line,
Attracting Daddy's playfulness.
You just wait. Ha!
When you explore your body
And giggle in discovery,
I'll fill yours with Jello!
* * * * * * * * *
To One Not Yet Born: Daddy Loves You
Daddy loves you, Little One.
He strokes you, smiles proudly at you, kisses you,
Patiently waiting to hold you.
He swears you talk to him frequently,
Asking for ice cream, kicking in Morse Code,
Returning his whispered good-night.
You two have An Understanding,
A love-bond of which I can not/should not be a part,
One that you two will nurture.
* * * * * * * * *
Bonding
When you first tasted air and cried rage into the world,
I slept.
Three slumbering days created strangers of us
Who were once one.
We met. We searched each other's eyes for signs
Of recognition.
Days drifted. Your pink warmth filled my arms,
But not my heart.
Fists clenched tight, you reached for me with parched lips
To fill yourself,
I thought with food, but found you wanted all,
All of me.
After, we shared the closeness of bodies, but not
Of souls.
One night the freeway of babies carried them clatteringly
Past my door.
No one stopped. No one stopped. No one stopped
For me.
Fiery tears burned my eyes, fueled by the acid emptiness
That ate at my being.
Then you were at my breast, and my tears flowed easily,
Like my kisses.
We fed each other, recreating our blessed oneness,
Now and forever.
* * * * * * * * *
Original Grace
Tiny body wriggles toward the warmth
Of mother-scent.
Gleaming eyes wonder at, grapple with
Slippery sunbeams.
Thirsty ears drink in soft ticking
From. . . .somewhere.
Crinkled nose draws in the crimson
Of the freshly picked rose.
Playful tongue samples the breath
Of the quiet breeze.
Everything is so apple-tempting new!
* * * * * * * * *
First Tear
Your cuddle-me-cry grew louder,
Intensified with urgency.
And in each eye a droplet--
A tiny, glistening molecule
Whose waves rushed over me,
Dragging me over fire coral
Until I bled.
* * * * * * * * *
Not Tonight
Once upon an evening dreary, while we rubbed our eyes so bleary,
After dreaming luscious dreams and feeling stolen-slumber's bite--
Came a sighing and a crying from the room where he was lying