after Saint Francis and the Sow by Galway Kinnell
And when my daughter
runs to greet me, charges
me with joy, I am like
the great thick sow Saint Francis blessed
with his touch. For though
I look in the mirror
and see only what I wish to change,
my daughter sees differently
and bulldozes me with love,
a ferocious blessing,
reteaching me in a vigorous rush
that there is something
beautiful here, though
she wouldn’t name it as such—
and a small remembering
takes root in me and
vines throughout my thoughts,
and I flower there in blue surprise,
my own soil, again, enough.