For Next Week.

This has been floating around in my head for a while. It was time to finally put it down on a page.

For H, on Adoption Day

a year ago

we met in a parking lot

you buckled yourself in

gave us a forced jack-o-lantern smile

too big for your pale small face.

it was winter.

it would be weeks before

you would begin to thaw.

every night I read to you

when you fell asleep with your head in my lap

I stayed till every limb tingled

I wondered if you had ever before felt safe,

felt full.

a year passed as

Harry Potter

saved the stone

found the chamber

fought dementors

faced dark hearted grownups

you saw yourself

in the boy who lived

the boy in the cupboard

hungry

nonfitting hand me downs

he too did not tell lies

even when everyone insisted

that he did

punishing him

for his truth

you are the boy who lived.

today in the driveway
five inches taller

you buckle yourself in

you wear a bow tie

and a real smile.

we adopt you

and a magic most ancient

most powerful

runs through you,

times two.

it has transformed you.

the boy who lived has become,

once and for all,

the chosen one.