Meaghan 

In case you forgot 

I have a picture,

of you and I,

fishing.
I, standing.

You sitting next to me.

Blue water,

summer sky,

you small and happy,

me proud and standing tall.

(A moment captured for all time, carried within me, just like your heart.) 

In case you have forgotten,

I still stand next to you,

(tall and proud)

Just like that day,

in the sun,

that has never faded!

Even though you are growing and no longer needing so much help and protection, 

in case you have forgotten,

I remain right next to you.
II. A rainy morning

They rain poured down,

she.did not seem to mind.

She had her phone and watched videos and plays games,

chasing points instead of rain drops,

(maybe she remembered the way the cats used to do that when they were younger and less lazy?)

Then there was a the radio commercial about the cafe,

where cats are part of the ambience sitting all around, relaxed and friendly.

(The way the black one did at the bookstore)

She said she wanted to go and wondered out loud if she could bring the dog?

She went back to her game before I could answer.

(falling rain and the ride went on) 

We got soaked walking into school,

she didn’t seem to mind and I heard her laughing at me when I spilled my coffee.

(she is so.pretty when she smiles)

I tell her so and she pretends not to listen.

III. Adolescent Girl

I love to see the way she looks off into the distance,

the shape of her eyes,

and face,

are so beautiful to me,

(almond shaped, high cheek bones and triangular.)

Especially when she wears her hair on top of her head

and it spills down the middle of her back,

(she does not know how beautiful she is.)

She takes snapshots of the moon,

through the car window,

concentrating on the angle,

(stargazer)

she watches as the train go by,

she is silent,

ignoring me,

(but not escaping the gaze of my mirror.)

Then she brushes her hair.

(her mother helped her wash it last night.) 

Every now and then she checks to see if I am watching,

catching me from time to time,

I tell her I love her,

she never stops,

just looks out the window,

dreaming,,

(she is going to ride after school)

I watch her sometimes,

on her mare,

hair flying out behind her,

smiling,

She does not know how beautiful she is,

so I remind her,

(even when she ignores me)