… and as I open my eyes I behold
my first gift for the day - your smile -
I gather it carefully into my soul
the way cupped hands gather rain,
oh, your smile -
soothing balm for one life
that up until now had known only pain
and like the silt of riverbanks washed away
by the rush of love shining in your eyes
dark as coal, bright as firelight,
I remember
darkness does not last forever…

(from the poem “Andreas, Two Years Old”)