for my sister Alicia on her birthday

4 of 6 Hill siblings, circa 1981

Into Being

for my sister Alicia on her birthday

We talk about the fact that
even though no one expected you,
(it wasn't the plan)
it wasn't the surprise
that made the act what it was.
It was principally the Grace;
the bringing into being,
for our family,
the beautiful thing,
the effervescence,
the beam,
the flourishing in April.
Your mind,
of course, has something to do
with it. It awakens
those who know you into Truthful
things. It is good, for example, 

when you birth Hope, and you are
really nurturing all of us.

When I took you for show & tell, passed 

you around my fourth grade class like you

were something I had done, you took notes

in your baby head.  "To do:  

shine my own true self."

And it is a glory
to do anything
so truthful
and do it
gracefully.

3 of 6 Hill siblings, circa 2010

*adapted -- with love -- from a poem by Robert Lax, "We talked about the fact..."