A Poem for the Girl Who Will Grow Beyond Me

For the one who will outgrow my arms, but never my heart.

There are moments in motherhood when I catch a glimpse of the future, the way her laughter stretches toward independence, the way her curiosity reaches beyond my grasp. It is both beautiful and bittersweet, this slow unfurling of her own becoming.

I wrote this poem as a reminder to myself that love is not a tether, but a lantern we hold high, so they can find their own way in the dark.

A POEM FOR THE GIRL WHO WILL GROW BEYOND ME

I am your compass—
a steady star, a quiet tide,
a lantern held aloft
to help you find your way.

But I am not your conscience,
nor the keeper of your heart.
Your thoughts, your feelings,
your wild and wondrous mind—
they belong only to you.

We come from the same tree,
yet bloom on different branches.
The one I stand upon
will always be there—
steady beneath you,
a place to rest when the winds are strong,
a home to return to
when the world feels vast.

You are not the echo
of those who came before you.
You are your own becoming—
the dream and the dawn,
the melody still unfolding.

And I, with every beat of love I hold,
will be here—
watching you grow,
believing in the beauty
of who you are,
and all you will become.