stretching into shavasana next to my child
softening our eyes, lengthening limbs
a memory surfaces from the deep pool of my slowly stilling mind:
that time when she was two
and she called up to the stars
in all her tiny exuberance,

“thank you
for my
great
big
mama!”

how I’ve mourned for the loss
of this sweetness as she’s grown
the simple connections
turning complex and muddied
watched her tumble and twist
our bond ebbing, flowing

and then
in the silence opening this space
like the great night sky answering
through her now grown body,
she touches a fingertip to mine

and we both giggle
quietly