To My Unborn Daughter

to my unborn daughter,
i hope i will one day meet you,
hold you in my arms; raw and pink,
only just departed from the warmth of my womb,
i hope i will cry tears of joy,
forgo those of fear.

to my unborn daughter,
i hope i will leave you the earth i have known,
green and wild,
with haunting orca song and unripe salmon berries,
days of grubby barefoot wandering
through dewy fields of daises.

to my unborn daughter,
i hope you know i fought for you; for this earth,
marched on the city just as generations before me,
sowed the seeds of revolution in the streets.
i watched as little creeping tendrils
grew strong in soil infused with hope.
life finds a way,
even in the most unexpected of places,
against the most immeasurable odds,
life finds a way.
a dandelion taking root
within the cracked cement of a sidewalk,
life finds a way.

to my unborn daughter,
you will walk wet earth after a rainstorm,
hear the squawking of a horde of gulls,
smell the ever-green cedar bough,
taste a chinook salmon.

to my unborn daughter,
i promise you will grow to see the world i have known,
i promise i will grow to know you.