Kärlek

“Baby,” I’ll tell her,
“remember, your momma is a worrier,
and your poppa is a warrior,
and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more.”
Remember that good things come in threes
and so do bad things.
And always apologize when you’ve done something wrong.
But don’t you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining.
Your voice is small, but don’t ever stop singing.

And when they finally hand you heartache,
when they slip war and hatred under your door and offer you handouts on street-corners of cynicism and defeat,
you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother.