Dear New Dad

Dear New Dad,

Your fear is welcome
here is a place where
you can lay it down

just for these few lines

that pain you feel in your chest
is a new kind of love
it is here to open you

there is no way
to resist it reframe it divert it avoid it
stop
don’t run
remember

let it transform you
and shine
magnified through the tears
in your eyes

let it penetrate
and unsettle in you
all that needs
to be shaken awake

to free it more
to burn away
what is dry and ready to go

let it unfold you
in those places where
you are creased and hidden
a seed splitting
in dark soil

let it reveal
in you
something unseen
a latent magic
made for this time

let it set the table
with community
gathering
within and without
green sprouts
and manna
to sustain you

you have a bounty
within you
let this love
bring the feast

Dear New Dad

there is fear
laid aside
just there

but this love
can hold it
let it

Congratulations to Brandon, Christine, and Bindi Rose Clift — born November 7, 2022.