Mother and child

And I say to myself

Between the years,

Between learning to walk and growing up,

There is a promise in these brown eyes,

There is a promise so old that it is always new.

And I say to the world, proudly:

This is my present to you,

These brown eyes with their promise.

And in the still night I say to you, fondly;

Now I begin to understand.

This promise is so old that is forever new.

These brown eyes were a present to me,

Now I give them to you.

Nell Dorr em “Mother and Child”, 1954.