to my grand daughter

At three weeks we took you out
to Sizzlers to celebrate
& you cried most of the time
so Grandma leaving her dinner
walked around jiggling you up & down

When your mother said
that your face was the same colour
as your hot pink pants
you cried even louder

I said that you understood perfectly
that you had been here before
we all looked at each other knowingly
& your mother, auntie & me agreed that it was so

grandma was busy with you
so she wasn't listening to all of that
but when she sat down she said that you had
a big talk to her minutes after you were born
moving you mouth expressively
looking around the nursery room
telling her that getting here had been hard work
& you were glad to have grandma there
to share that important information

2004