Four-Year-Old Child, Falling

When you fell
it was your full weight
over the soft arm
of the chair and away
from the last moment
of losing your balance,

and from before that
when you were closer
to the balance you
once had, your feet
planted on the bottom
cushion and your smile
so pure and wide,
as we each held pillows
that we had not yet
tossed in play, moments
we had not yet set
in motion

and that I tried
to reverse in my rush
to your crying, and
in picking you up
from the hardwood floor
and holding your head
to my shoulder,

and in each moment
pulling you away
from that sound
of your head hitting,
your legs wrapped
around my waist; your
hands on my neck
and shoulder; and your
tears and trembling
taken in to my body,
so I can

take it all back
and away to that
moment of your standing
on your own and moving
on again into the world
and somehow beyond
the power of accident
to take us all away.

Published online at 8 Poems, poem number 4 in the January 2020 issue