Ilisa

Here are a few lines I had written for my daughter Ilisa (Sanskrit for "Queen of the Earth") the day she was born:

The circle of life beckons,
This new dad and old friend of yours;
Here and now is born my heart reckons,
The queen who shall rule this world of ours!

Tired is my body, yet sleep eludes me;
Moist are my eyes, yet tears elude me.
If I can do anything about it my dear,
This day is the last you'll cry coz of me.

Over the hills and through the clouds did I rush
To be the first sight your eyes will lock upon,
Yet, despair shall I not for this one moment lost,
Together shall every moment hence last a joyous aeon.

-Phani