This is dawn. Believe me This is your season, little daughter. The moment daisies open, The hour mercurial rainwater Makes a mirror for sparrows. It’s time we drowned our sorrows.
I tiptoe in. I lift you up Wriggling In your rosy, zipped sleeper. Yes, this is the hour For the early bird and me When fi nder is keeper.
I crook the bottle. How you suckle! This is the best I can be, Housewife To this nursery Where you hold on, Dear Life.
the last bit at the end of the bottle
A silt of milk. The last suck. And now your eyes are open, Birth-coloured and offended. Earth wakes. You go back to sleep. The feed is ended.
Worms turn. Stars go in. Even the moon is losing face. Poplars stilt for dawn And we begin The long fall from grace. I tuck you in.
