For My Paradisiac Princess

Those hideous looks

From under the blanket,

Those half coughs

As excuses to stay awake,

Those myriad pretensions to

Wait for your Papa to

Join you on bed –

Bring in a rare wholeness

To this hollow life!

Those welcome embraces

And warm snuggles,

Those lyrical nursery rhymes

And high-pitched yells,

Those hallmarked tantrums

Out of the blue –

Reward my fathering,

Enriching my being.

But, those legitimate fears

Of tyrant Time

Stealing away

Your innocence soon,

Those apt apprehensions

Of your absolute simplicity

Meekly giving in to

Cancerous complexity –

Caution the father in me

About the humongous task ahead

Of growing you to

A paradisiac princess.