Sewing the ribbons
onto point shoes for the first time
I again feel clumsy
in this art of parenting.
Angle the ribbons,
or stitch them on straight?
How far from the back seam
does the elastic go?
How snug the fit?
How secure the stitch?
It was not so long ago
I didn’t know how warm
the bath. How tight
the swaddle. How
to soothe when the babe
was unable to say
what was wrong.
So little has changed,
me in the late hours
puzzling over lack
of instructions,
wanting so badly
to do it right, wishing
for some elusive grace,
astonished by how enormous
the love, the ribbon
running through my fingers.
