There is a poem by W.H. Auden, Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone. While the poem is about Auden’s grief at the loss of his partner, to me it expresses something even more. There are some events in a persons life that are so monumental that the fact that the rest of the world continues to just go about its business seems almost surreal. The death of one you love, the wedding proposal accepted, or the birth of your child; these are events that rip you away from your everyday life and leave you bent over panting on the sidelines, struggling to breath in a new atmosphere of overwhelming emotions.
Paul and Becky have just welcomed their first child into the world. Layla Elizabeth Sutcliffe was born last night in the middle of a lunar eclipse. And suddenly Paul and Becky will find themselves shifted into a new reality. They will go to the supermarket and everywhere they look there will be babies. The daily news will become more terrifying and their previous worries more trivial. They will eat, sleep, and breath their child and talk about her until all around them implore them to stop. They will feel amazement that their little girl is the most beautiful in existence, and feel pity for all the other parents on the maternity ward who’s newborns are far uglier than their precious jewel. They will, whether it will be immediately or in the due course of time, find the true meaning of unconditional love.
And that’s just how it should be. They are new parents and, while the world will continue on around them, for the moment they have stepped outside in order to marvel at what they have created. A new family has been born and a brand new world starts from today.
Please head over to Paul’s blog and give them your congratulations.
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That’s going to be a pretty cool thing to tell people when she’s a little older – “I was born under a blood red moon!”
Great picture!
Thanks. The hassle we had trying to take it is a post in itself.
It’s a bit out of focus when zoomed in, but looks good at this size:)
You’re wonderfully poetic here yourself, Dan.
There was a young man called Paul
Who’s penis was incredibly small.
Despite this setback,
A baby he hatched
To the applause and delight of us all.
Dear me. I apologise for my husband.
I would ask how he knows but I’m not sure I’d like the answer….
I thought all newborns looked really ugly – except your own?
i was about to make a comment similiar to Deb’s, then i saw your immediate response and thought “there’s the dan i’ve come to know and love!”
Beautiful post Dan.
Though the follow-up poem does rather “pi$$ on your chips”! ;-)