In Consideration of a Newt

Beneath a sodden leaf, a neonate newt.

How small and frail and cold—

Nearly boneless, nearly translucent—

Sample of life so meek and vulnerable,

Mustard seed heart racing visibly. 

An accident of cosmic mechanics,

Small life; easily overlooked, easily destroyed.

In her hand, this newt must think my daughter a god;

She—at eight years—to him is infinitely powerful,

Loud and large and strong beyond comprehension.

What hope has he in her palm?

He cannot oppose her.

But she is full of mercy, and more;

She is full of love and compassion.

She—being so small herself—knows his terror.

Setting him down she models a hope

For how the world will treat her;

She holds fast a vigil as he slithers home,

Monumental and unknowable but graceful and kind.

In her life what forces will bear her up,

And shall they too set her down with such tenderness?