Isaiah at Seven Months: Crawling Into Love

Heaving breaths in and out
through his open mouth,
he clumsily pulls himself to standing
against the back of the couch.
He looks around triumphantly
and we all join together in
unreasonable delight with
his predictable accomplishment.

A quick and graceless fall
bounces him back to sitting.

Unfazed, he turns from me
to be greeted by a familiar vision
on the far end of the couch:
mother and grandmother—
beaming faces illuminated
with primal love for this
small being of will and wonder.

Arms flailing, he crawls wholeheartedly
toward these waiting angels of his life—
into a world which perfectly, for this moment,
reflects and invites his emerging animation.