We think we see your spine
As we gather intently ‘round the screen
To view the grainy disk
Your parents brought to Mexico
To demonstrate their fertility.
You do not know the world
Into which you are about
To be thrust.
Will you shine or struggle?
I think I see your foot
And now perhaps your face,
Inscrutable and silent,
Reserving judgment on us all.
Your heart, tiny and furious
Belies your otherwise buoyant repose,
And I wish I know
What it will hold dear,
How often it will break,
If it will carry you well
Through tears and tragedy,
And how it will pound with passion
Against some lover’s breast
In darkest nights ahead.
I think I see translucent eyes
Peering into vacant space
And I wonder what they’ll see
Eighty years from now
When we are gone and you remain.
What will you think of us?
As we gather intently ‘round the screen
To view the grainy disk
Your parents brought to Mexico
To demonstrate their fertility.
You do not know the world
Into which you are about
To be thrust.
Will you shine or struggle?
I think I see your foot
And now perhaps your face,
Inscrutable and silent,
Reserving judgment on us all.
Your heart, tiny and furious
Belies your otherwise buoyant repose,
And I wish I know
What it will hold dear,
How often it will break,
If it will carry you well
Through tears and tragedy,
And how it will pound with passion
Against some lover’s breast
In darkest nights ahead.
I think I see translucent eyes
Peering into vacant space
And I wonder what they’ll see
Eighty years from now
When we are gone and you remain.
What will you think of us?
