I blow on your bare baby belly
and you chuckle those first precious laughs
as you cling to my hair.
My heart aches with bittersweet joy
for the giggles I never heard,
the solemn silence of your big sister,
born still.
Yet I am so relieved you are here safe—
that you are laughing and alive.
On an impulse,
I lay my ear on your warm little chest and listen:
“Badda -boom, badda-boom, badda-boom!”
Thank God, thank God, thank God! Goes your little drum.
I fight tears as your pull my hair with your chubby little hands
into your sweet, warm mouth. Thank God, thank God, thank God!