N's Birthday Poem
The Spanish songs on Spotify, the heartbeat
swollen, back of the ambulance, first birthday
since the hospital, first birthday without you
since you were seven

and I have nothing but love for you, darling girl,
nothing but the poem and the silly text messages, the
meme's, tarot cards (Queen of Swords) for you,
gif's of Timothée Chalamet, smoldering looks,

watch you pull down the sleeves of your
sweatshirt, the heatwave reddens our cheeks,
pointe shoes hanging in the back of a closet,
your mother slow dancing with you in the kitchen,

your father watching
from a safe distance, bursting with love for you
but too afraid to speak it, named you
after the phrase for "I love you," in the tongue
of his childhood,

I will always be here for you,
time is rhyme, and distance
defiant.