We did all this for you
[for Matri]
By Cynthia Bevard Peterson
 
Following the announcement of your impending arrival,
excitement spread, buzzing with promise and hope,
exploding with joy, a pyrotechnic display
bursting upward and outward
from our hearts,
uncontained.

Strangers who did not know, turned toward the beauty
sizzling and sparkling around our lives,
recognizing delight they could not name
but did not care - joy is contagious,
with or without reason.

Expectation grew, a rhizome underlying
the field of friends and family,
extending boundlessly beneath fences
upon which birds rest, singing welcomes.
Plans bursting wildflowers unfurled
in celebrations begun early,
blossoming wildly into the future,
centered around you.

We kept ourselves busy making preparations and gifts,
we set the groundwork for your entrance,
we wrote the prologue for your play.
We created a vision that grew rapidly,
hugely beyond the size and scope of
your small existence and helpless reversal,
the revocation of your journey
and itinerary emptied,
all in a day.

We never expect a life so brief
that there's not even a first breath
before it's over.

We did all this for you,
and it was worth it.

My husband and I (together 31 yrs - some say this is a miracle in itself) have lived in the Rocky Mtns of Colorado for 30 yrs, raised 3 sons and have 2 grandbabies, a 3rd on the way. Previous publishing credits: nonfiction articles, poems and photographs between 1976-1986 in the bi-monthly print publications, Mothering magazine, Country Ladies' Daybook, and Connecticut Midwives Assn newsletter (all publications focused on alternatives in childbirth, parenting, education and health). Also the cover photo for the March 2002 website www.literarypotpourri.com, an online arts journal.