My Very Own But Not Quite

To all those choices you will make,
In those moments of closed eyes and clenched fists
which will overwhelm you,
steady you or trip you over,

My daughter; you who is my very own

And yet not quite;
This ache in my heart, is for all that and more

I remember the day I saw you first

Through an enchanted lens of science and faith
We peered into my womb
And caught you sucking your thumb

That sterile room came alive

A sweeping vision of awe, fear and bliss
I wondered then, if I had ever known love
Before I stepped into that room

I bowed then to life, to death and rebirth

To my mother who had foreseen this for me
And to your daughter that will too.
But from that moment, my daughter;
You who is my very own, but not quite;

This ache in my heart, is for those choices you will make,

All those moments of closed eyes and clenched fists
Which will overwhelm you, steady you or trip you over,
For all that and much more