Week 3: Ecco

[alycewilson]

This is my entry for this week of LJ Idol: Wheel of Chaos. The prompt this week is "Ecco," which is an Italian word defined as, essentially, "presenting a person, thing, or idea and inviting you to perceive it at the very moment it appears," similar to the English word "behold."

Behold

I peer into your dark bronze eyes as you, swaddled
in a panda blanket, gaze back. We are both
enthralled with this novelty: being apart
from one another. Our bodies separate, at last.
Your heart pounding in your own tiny chest, no longer
tapping time with mine. Able, at last, to see
the origin of the voice you've heard
echoing through blood so many months. My own heart

now suffused with warmth and wellbeing
which I feebly label "love." But Valentine sentiment
pales beside this affection, which encapsulates
not just tenderness but a deep
knowing; a twinning of cells.
Your joy, my joy; your pain
mine, as well.

So many years later -- an eon of growth --
you may wonder why I still
beam at you; why I intone
your name so sweetly in the mornings
as I coach you to disentangle your long limbs
from swaddling blankets. Why I still sing
good morning to you, as if the nectar
of each day was worth savoring. Even now,
with your deep voice, your wry humor,
your eyes behind speckled glasses,
I still see you as I saw you then.
In breathless wonder.


- July 9, 2025



Inspired by eeyore_grrl, I've recorded a video of myself reading this poem.

Comments

[muchtooarrogant]

Very nice, I particularly liked,
"But Valentine sentiment
pales beside this affection, which encapsulates
not just tenderness but a deep
knowing; a twinning of cells."

LOL I gotta know, what did KFP think of this entry?

Loved the video too, although I'm grateful I'm incompetent at poetry because that means I won't have to ever post one. (grin)

Dan

[eeyore_grrl]

Lovely. Thank you for sharing and i'm honored. They are amazing to make and watch grow aren't they?! I'm still amazed that mine has grown into a 15 year old!

[alycewilson]

Mine is 15, too! It was a good batch of kids that year; real cream of the crop. Something in the sunshine and water, I think.

[alycewilson]

Dan, I honestly think you'd do quite well with poetry if you gave it a try. You tend to use very descriptive language and to be very economical with your word usage.

KFP actually is subscribed to my YouTube channel, so he watched it soon after I posted it, and he was smiling and laughing along with it. So I think it's fair to say he likes it!

[muchtooarrogant]

Thank you. As a white guy though, rhythm's so hard. LOL OK, I'll stop. I think it's just I'm always more interested in telling a story, and the ones I want to tell are generally longer. But, I'll keep it in mind.

Ah, you're lucky, I don't imagine there are many 15-year-old guys who would enjoy their mom reminiscing about them as a baby. :)

Dan

[fausts_dream]

KKFP does seem to have been passed over by the parents are embarrassing trait.

[simplyn2deep]

This poem is achingly beautiful, capturing the sacred shift from shared body to shared life with such intimacy and grace. The thread between past and present, between a swaddled newborn and a grown child, is tender and unbroken, woven with love that transcends time. That final line, “In breathless wonder,” lingers like a benediction.

[adoptedwriter]

Awww. Yes, we always see them as their newborn self. It never goes away.

[adore]

I've never experienced motherhood but your poem makes the emotions of motherhood so vivid and tangible! And the baby picture is so adorable <333

[roina_arwen]

This is very sweet!

[alycewilson]

Thanks so much!

[xeena]

that picture is adorable and i love this poem so much, you really express all the joys of being a mother.

[alycewilson]

Thanks so much! He makes me so happy on a daily basis. (Even when things are less ideal.)

[bleodswean]

Oh!!! What a perfect use of the prompt, A! And such a fantabulous photo! I know this experience and you've given it perfect voice. Well done!

[alycewilson]

Thanks so much! I wanted to use a photo that was similar to that moment when they brought him back to me after his first bath. He was so alert and fascinated!

And here he is on Friday, to see the difference.

https://flic.kr/p/2rgnJkB

[fausts_dream]

This is joyous, simple but powerful. Lots of extra value in you reading the poem, you have a gift for performance.

[alycewilson]

Thanks so much! Maybe I'll try to do that with my poems when I can.

[swirlsofpurple]

Lovely and sweet

[alycewilson]

Thanks so much!

[krispykritter]

How old is KFP now. Time sure passes quickly! I remember when he was born! Yikes! This was sweet!

[alycewilson]

He's 15 now and taller than me!

[marjorica]

KFP is so loved and lucky!

[alycewilson]

He absolutely is!

[halfshellvenus]

I missed this the first time around (bye week), so I'm glad to have a chance to read it now. This really captures those early-parent feelings, and how that love just continues forward. From new infant to older child (even an adult, in my case), that sense that your child is precious never dims. :)