On the eve of your birth word of your coming passed from animal to animal.
The reindeer told the Arctic terns, who told the humpback whales, who told the Pacific salmon, who told the monarch butterflies, who told the green turtles, who told the European eel, who told the busy garden warblers, and the marvelous news migrated worldwide.
While you waited in darkness, tiny knees curled to chin, the Earth and her creatures with the Sun and Moon all moved in their places, each ready to greet you the very first moment of the very first day you arrived.
On the day you were born the round planet Earth turned toward your morning sky, whirling past darkness, spinning the night into light.
On the day you were born gravity's strong pull held you to the Earth with a promise that you would never float away.....while deep in space the burning Sun sent up towering flames, lighting your sky from dawn until dusk.
On the day you were born the quiet Moon glowed and offered to bring a full, bright face, each month, to your windowsill ........ while high above the North Pole, Polaris, the glittering North Star, stood still, shining silver light into your night sky.
On the day you were born the Moon pulled on the ocean below, and wave by wave, a rising tide washed the beaches clean for your footprints ...... while far out at sea clouds swelled with water drops, sailed to shore on a wind, and rained you a welcome across the Earth's green lands.
On the day you were born a forest of tall trees collected the sun's light in their leaves, where, in silent mystery, they made oxygen for you to breathe ............ while close to your skin and as high as the sky, air rushed in and blew about, invisibly protecting you and all living things on Earth.
On the day you were born the Earth turned, the Moon pulled, the Sun flared, and, then, with a push, you slipped out of the dark quiet where suddenly you could hear ..... a circle of people singing with voices familiar and clear.
"Welcome to the spinning world," the people sang, as they washed your new, tiny hands.
"Welcome to the green Earth," the people sang, as they wrapped your wet, slippery body.
And as they held you close they whispered into your open, curving ear, "We are so glad you've come!"
by Debra Frasier
