John Marsden Writing Topic #349
Write a poem that begins ‘The day our daughter/son was born…’**
Little Twig
The day our daughter was born–
we suddenly weren’t kids anymore,
our carefree teenage lives gone.
The day our daughter was born–
our lives changed forever
but we didn’t end up staying together.
The day our daughter was born–
we didn’t realise our divorce
would only be the beginning of our lives,
we would go on to find
another husband, another wife,
we would go on to have another child,
or two, or three.
We didn’t realise this was what was meant to be.
The day our daughter was born–
we didn’t know what to expect,
what life would throw at us,
what kind of daughter we’d get.
Little did we know,
we’d raise a fine young lady,
unafraid to face the world and live her life,
that at nineteen she’d become a wife
and have her own daughter at twenty-nine!
Little did we know,
she’d find her calling, build a successful career
and it would be the one thing,
that would take her away from us,
the one thing we hold so dear.
A stunt gone wrong,
she wasn’t given very long.
Not long to hold her hand
or stroke her hair,
only long enough for us to scream
‘life’s not fair,
take us not her!’
We’ll never believe
she’s really gone.
The day our daughter was born–
we never knew
we’d only get thirty-four years together.
The day our daughter was born…
**Reference: Marsden J 1998, Everything I Know About Writing, Pan Macmillan, Australia.