Happy Birthday, Jay . . .

Poem for Your Birthday

My favorite day is the day you were born . . .

Wrapped in wonder and whimsy
you entered the world
to wait for us, for me

And I cherish this day . . .

Even though I know that
you arrived as a gift from God
to your parents . . .
the gift of you ultimately re-wrapped itself
in a tattered, torn pair of jeans
grungy gray sweatshirt
and tired, worn-out sneakers
in a crowded bookstore
on the East side

Every day since then is like a birth-day
with the expectation and excitement
and unwrapping of a new gift --

you.