A Gleam in the Eye
Volume One of The Seasons of Youth
(revised, second edition)
Paperback: 90 pp.
Published: 2009
What mom doesn’t recall the magical seasons surrounding the birth of her baby — the anticipation felt during pregnancy; the pain and pride, on delivering; the joy of watching her child grow? And what dad can forget saying to himself, upon first holding his infant, "I’m really a father now," with all the accompanying awareness of being responsible for another human being? Chronicling the development of his own firstborn, from her conception through age one, Louis Daniel Brodsky provides, for us all — from experienced parents to those who have yet to see that "gleam in the eye" — a window on that glorious time.
Praise:
I enjoyed A Gleam in the Eye: Poems for a First Baby and felt I could see not only the child, but all children dreaming and concerned, nurtured and growing.
— Maya Angelou, author of I know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Never has a father celebrated the infancy of a first baby with such lyrical precision, and grave attention, with such delightful humor.
— May Sarton, author of Journal of a Solitude and In Time Like Air
BUY THE BOOK from Time Being Books (the publisher) or Amazon.com.
First Insights
Our child enraptures me, with her smiles.
Such smooth, unassuming contortions,
On a face as yet untrained
In deviltry,
Contain no seeds of pain or disillusionment.
Her wide grin is a sign of contentedness,
On recognizing herself and me
In my glinting, eager eyes.
We’re perfect friends,
Accepting each other unconditionally.
One moment are we,
In the sum of two lifetimes.
Timelessly, we rub cheek to cheek,
Like rose petals fluttered by a breeze.
We’ve become not just playmates or acquaintances
But, without vacant smiles anymore,
Father and daughter, blended in embrace,
Who, on this occasion,
Seem to perceive a feature of the other
Both have failed to see before.
