How do we meet life and each other with deep respect and deep care? I am always grateful for the conversations on Turning Toward Life between Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn. This in this episode they use one of my poems, “In Case You Don’t Know Already,” one I wrote for my daughter, Vivian, and for me. And maybe for you, too.
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In Case You Don’t Know Already
—for my daughter
One day you will wake
and discover you are a sun,
radiant, fueled by your own core,
capable of luminosity so great
you blaze through lightyears of darkness.
You will know your own power
and it will never occur to you
not to trust it, not to share it.
You will not be able to forget
your own magnitude.
Nor will such glory be a burden.
You will simply shine
because that is who you are.
No need to apologize.
No reason to be jealous
of any other sun,
of any other star.
On that day,
you will see how it is
you have always been a sun,
even in the darkest days.
Then, you were also the clouds
and the great shadow
that made you stop
believing in your light.
You are, in fact,
what makes the day itself—
you are that integral,
that crucial,
that bright.
—Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer