Ten small fingers and toes.
Finding their way to life.
Stretching and grasping the air.
Grabbing at the start of a beginning.

Nine cry per-day.
Tears for attention,
waterfalls of hunger and pain.
The constant flowing for nothing at all.

Eight clumsy steps forward.
Holding the traction of gravity.
Cautious tip-toes and careless sprints,
for now ending in cuts and lessons learned.

Seven new words to verbalize.
Hello and goodbye are always first.
The cry of wants soon turn to screams.
Yes and no become too simple.

Six sentences read.
Letters link together,
holding their place to never be forgotten.
Simple words are foreign but never impossible.

Five new friends.
They may hold through,
or let go for reasons unknown.
Fortunately there are more waiting behind the next door.

Four tiny habits developed.
Not easily seen as obsession,
though the doubt always lingers.
Little fidgets can not be tamed.

Three family members.
Easily hardest to speak to.
Never understand or always tease,
but always seem to be there.

Two boys.
Never noticing anything but a friend.
Always a girl to be more,
and one sadly left in the shadow.

One person.
One girl who hasn’t yet had half.
Girls to women by the tortures and laughs.
Yet more to come…