My Daughter in the Heart of Goodness
Brandon Cook
When my daughter came to the front of the church in mid-August for the blessing of those returning to school,
She piped up, holding up the show, to let the rector know that
She and her brother had already returned and that Monday would, in fact, be their ninth day back
She broke a spell and we all laughed—gratefully, from where I sat
As our humanity echoed against the altar and back
Finding us alive and alert with longing
We need so often,
And often without knowing it,
For sobriety to be cast aside and to find that sudden levity which frees us,
And a little child will lead us
Later, when we read the Lord's Prayer, her voice rose boldly above all others, and I smiled again, praying that all this would last as long as possible:
Her beautiful heedlessness
Her perfect lack of self-awareness, still endlessly innocent—
No taste of fruit upon her lips
Knowing this is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever,
Amen.