Nature Never Told

Thoughts from the day I met my daughter for the first and last time

Nature Never Told

by Timothy O'Fallon

Like the whispered breath of Spring I would have welcomed your first cry;
Instead, our first hello becomes a wint'ry last goodbye.

Death stole away the dreams we kept like clothes for dressing you;
Yet robbed of all our hopes and dreams, your soul is born anew.

Your mother dreamt you dressed in lace with ribbons in your hair;
Now stars dance on your robes--your locks caress the morning air.

I'd hoped to read you fairy tales. I'd planned to teach you rhyme;
But now your tales are fairer and your verse eclipses mine;

For you are more than grownup dreams could ever hope to hold;
Your story is a starlit one that Nature never told.

So even as I wash your face with streams of anguished tears
You start a great adventure free from loneliness and fear.

In Heaven's watch we leave you now to sing and praise and play;
So some Spring when we meet you there, you'll show us Heaven's ways.