Once I was a cave for you
Strong walls and a deep hearth
Warm and safe and home
My skinny arms sheltered –
Not too thin for you,
Tiny little thing, sprawled or curled
I was a whole landscape

You grew as you do when you
Have a home to grow out of
It is good and right and true
But I feel I am small again
Too small for you
To be enveloped like you ought to be
When the world is too un-cavey

I wonder if it is enough
That once I was a shelter
– It seems to be when you cling
And I can’t surround you as I wish
But you stop crying anyway

Once I was a cave for you
Now I am a tree and soon
I’ll be another person like your self
But can I say, my love, before you grow
How much I’ve loved to be your home
And what a privilege it is for me
To be outgrown by such a thing