for Arabella, born November 2, 2005

As with yeast and water, grain and heat—
what human hearts could have imagined exactly
you? And now we could never imagine
our weather unaffected by your beautiful
breaths, each exhale a birthday wish. What
you heard from the womb remains true:
humans design ironies, each as if eyeglasses
gone wrong, to distract ourselves from
atoms, and Bethany Beach, and cruelty-free
sandwiches, and more galaxies than we know
what do to with. But keep the faith, kiddo:
a trillion possibilities pop from the toaster
of each moment, equaling additions even
math teachers can’t fathom. And trust me,
when we held you in our arms and you slept
so soundly no news could end your dreams,
you were a warm loaf of bread refreshing
our stale lives. So, we thanked you. Yes,
we thanked you, and you? You inhaled.