I’m really good at
holding your hand
and keeping up —
skip-step in perfect trust

I like it, too, when you swoop me
high through the air,
our laughter mingling
under the bright sky,
I’m good at
filling up with joy

There have been names
given to me, and to my family,
names establishing our strengths
and our shortcomings,
generations of stories,
many never told, about them

But today I don’t want any name but yours,
don’t want histories, don’t want prognostications —
Today I’ll hold your hand and take your name:
I Am.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 29, 2015