How Long Can You Stay?

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
--- Robert Frost

My Little One, my golden one, how long can you stay?

You’ve never been denied, betrayed or left unchosen.
You’ve never watched a face collapse under the weight of something you said.
Your whole being vibrates with the sheer delight of being delighted.
How long can you stay?

A moment lurks - I feel it closer - when you will feel the first frost of regret in your throat, when your cheeks will redden from the sting of rejection and your tears that now mist pure and clear will slope and stagger with real pain.

How long can you stay? Twirling breathless in the rain. Sturdy-legged, nose to ant. Half-on, half-off, half-in, half-out, no doubt, all mine, green and free and light.

I know not how long you can stay. I only know it's not long enough.

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer
Freelance Writer
Parenting
Motherhood