(I just came across this poem in an old journal, written on October 28, 2002, when my child was only two months old. Edited slightly but still smiling at how prophetic this really became.)

your first laugh –
a definite giggle in your sleep
much like your cry
but smaller, smiling.

such a fine line between the two –
one bursting out at birth
an instinctual will to live.

the other, weeks later,
a tiny gurgle –
the inevitable result
of living