Welcome to the Spinning World

My Brooklyn brother married a girl named after a character in Gone With the Wind who is as gorgeous as her name.

This morning they had twin boys. Debra Frasier's book, On the Day You Were Born, is perfect to celebrate their coming.

On the eve of your birth, word of your coming passed from animal to animal.

The reindeer told the Arctic terns, who told the humpback whales,

who told the Pacific salmon, who told the monarch butterflies,

who told the green turtles, who told the European eel,

who told the busy garden warblers,

and the marvelous news migrated worldwide.

While you waited in darkness,

tiny knees curled to chin,

the Earth and her creatures with the sun and moon all moved in their places,

each ready to greet you the very first moment of the very first day you arrived.

On the day you were born the earth turned, the moon pulled, the sun flared,

And then, with a push you slipped out of the dark quiet,

where suddenly you could hear a circle of people singing with voices familiar and clear.

“Welcome to the spinning world,” the people sang as they washed your new tiny hands.

“Welcome to the green earth,” the people sang, as they wrapped your wet, slippery body.

And as they held you close, they whispered into your open, curving ear,

“We are so glad you’ve come!”