A Prayer To My Boys, Part One

To my boys.... I started writing this poem when I was pregnant with Davey and before I even knew if he was a boy or girl. All I had was this orange rocking chair, that my mom found for the nursery. I would sit in this orange rocker and wonder about the baby that was on the way. The title of the poem back then was "A Prayer to my Unborn Child" and I've worked on it off and on over the past two years, mostly in my head, then jotting things down when I got the chance. Today, instead of an unborn child to wonder about... I have two flesh and blood baby boys that I think and pray about. So now, I write this poem for both of them, Davey and Burl. There are a few more verses I need to figure out and work on, so consider this "A Prayer To My Boys, Part One"... and maybe in a few years I will post the rest.

Dear little baby growing inside me,
I wonder what kind of person you are going to be.
Right now I don't even know if you are boy or girl,
Will your hair be blond and fair, or have your mama's curl?
I dream of our nights together, rocking you in the nursery,
In an orange retro rocker, your grammy scored for free.
I cannot wait to hold you, and hear your baby sighs,
Whisper that I love you, and look into your eyes.

My dear baby, this ole' world is a waiting
and there are some things I want to say
To prep you for your future life,
and for you to read one day.

I pray you explore this world, take a car, a boat, or plane,
Find your new favorite place, and then make plans to visit again.
Go to Wales, Peru, and Paris! Explore all of Southern Utah’s Country!
Visit the Arabia Steamboat at least once, and the South Pacific plenty!
Try all the different foods, and walk where the locals walk,
Enjoy days filled with lots to do, and days where you just watch.
See as much as you can and enjoy whatever you encounter,
Just promise you'll find a church on Sunday, and stay for all 3 hours.

May you fall in love with music, and have many a favorite song,
Buy a record player with some vinyls, dance and sing along!
Take long solo drives to unwind and jam out your favorite track!
Get to know Neil Young, Brandon Flowers, & Fleetwood Mac,
May I recommend The Cars, Arcade Fire, and Dolly Parton,
The Judds, Black Keys, Mika!, and the glorious Paul Simon!
John Denver, Postal Service, Elton John, and Chris Ledoux!
All of this, I pray, and our beloved church hymns too!

Please! May you have a love of books, and find time to read each day!
Begin with Calvin & Hobbes and Shel Silverstein, if I should have a say!
C.S. Lewis, R.L. Stine, J.K. Rowlings, are some fine authors you should know,
The Borrowers, Indian in the Cupboard, Charlotte's Web are a definite go
Other required reading: Trumpet of the Swans and Summer of the Monkeys
The Book Thief, James and the Giant Peach, and The Book of Three
You will love Name of the Wind, The Hobbit, and My Side of the Mountain,
But I pray you love the scriptures most, especially the Book of Mormon.

TO BE CONTINUED.....