MyButterfly

Remember when you
were almost four, and
we sat upon the floor
and I pulled out all my
make-up, and we played
beauty-shop?
You laughed and giggled
as I piled
your shiny hair
on top your head in
silken curls and
rouged your cheeks
and framed your baby
eyes in dark-mascaraed
fringes. You looked into
the mirror and my heart was
overwhelmed with mother-
pride because I saw the
beauty you would some day be.
And now it seems that someday's come at last
and how it crept up so darn
fast, I cannot say.
For there you stand
before me, feminine perfection, your shiny hair
done up in curls and make-up artfully applied to eager, almost-woman face, and I know that you're not playing anymore.

Where is the little caterpillar
that used to wrap herself
around my legs, and was
forever underfoot?
Somehow it metamorphosized
into a vibrant butterfly,
with fragile glistening wings
that, almost dry, grow stronger
with each day.
And even if I could,
I would not hold you back
from all the
bittersweet of life
that you're so anxious
to consume.
It's out there waiting
for you...embrace
it with my blessing.
But oh, sometimes I wish
that I could make
the clock of time
run backwards through
the years, until at
last it reached that
long ago forgotten
door, and I'd
slip through and
once again,
you'd be there
upon the floor,
laughing, giggling,
almost four.

God made the world with its towering trees,
majestic mountains and restless seas.
Then He paused and said,
"It needs one more thing...
someone to laugh and dance and sing;
to walk in the woods and gather flowers,
to commune with nature in quiet hours."
So God made something called "little girls",
with laughing eyes and bouncing curls;
with joyful hearts and infectious smiles,
enchanting ways and feminine wiles.
And when He'd completed the task He'd begun,
He was pleased and proud of
the job He'd done.
For the world, when seen through
a little girl's eyes,
greatly resembles Paradise.

Where are you going,
sweet little girl child;
come sit here beside me,
stay little awhile.

Don't be in a hurry,
don't grow up so fast;
in the sweetness of innocence,
let this time last.

Hold tight to your dollies,
and dance with your dreams;
for time is as fleeting
as flickering moonbeams.

I cherish each moment,
sweet little girl child;
come sit here beside me -
stay little awhile.