Daughter of a Moment
By Diane Cornell-Drury
 
Two hundred and eighty days
My body was your home
An intimacy within me
That I could hardly know
The light of a flickering candle
The beat of a distant drum
Protected in a separate kingdom
Your secrets known to none
A thriving child of mystery
Your promise only begun.

You entered our world like a tempest
I cried and welcomed you in
I begged you to stay for a lifetime
I cursed the rushing wind
You child of budding vision
An infant or a sage
Maturing in an instant
A being without age
Your life is now a memory
Of years condensed in one day.

Chorus: The sun comes up
The sun goes down
The spring arrives
The winter has come
A flower blooms
The petals fall
There's plenty time
There's none at all
My daughter of a moment she will be.

Just over the horizon
The seasons never change
The flowers bloom forever
They tell me there's no pain
But I am left a mother
Of a traveler afar
An overflowing bosom
For a girl on a distant star
A parent of a pilgrim
A harbor safe in the heart.

The sun comes up
The sun goes down
The spring arrives
The winter has come
A flower blooms
The petals fall
There's plenty time
There's none at all
My daughter of a moment she will be.

I rock you with my questions
I bathe you with my tears
I look for you when dreaming
I feel you in the breeze
When poetry eludes me
I listen for your voice
I gaze across the water
And know I have no choice
But love you without measure
Suspending sorrow and joy.

The sun comes up
The sun goes down
The spring arrives
The winter has come
A flower blooms
The petals fall
There's plenty time
There's none at all My daughter of a moment she will be.

To a beautiful, red-headed sweetheart
who is always in my heart. Devon Cornell-Drury,
born naturally at 41 weeks and
died within minutes on July 23, 1998.

This poem was written as lyric to be sung to "Volver a los Diecisiete" ("Becoming 17 Again") by Chilean songwriter, Violeta Parra.