We lay here

During the mid-afternoon warmth of summer

In the lazy, peaceful solitude of home

Nursing you into naptime.

You are beautifully, perfectly naked;

For, it is with great difficulty nowadays,

That I can manage to keep you clothed at all.

Nor do I desire to restrain your free spirited ways.

You lay beside me,

Your soft, warm body pressed into mine;

While I wonder if anything else could feel

So purely close to heaven.

One hand rests on my breast; and

Five small fingers can be seen

Beneath the washable finger-paint

That never really washes away.

Green and blue paint beneath your nails,

While you cup your hand

Possessively over my breast,

Your primary source of nourishment and security.

Your slender legs stretch alongside my waist,

Where feet finally rest at the middle of my thigh.

I see the tiny traces of artwork

You so love to draw with colored markers on your limbs.

I note, with a smile,

You have "painted" your toenails

With the multi-colored markers.

"Pretty piggy toes, Mommy," you say, displaying them with pride.

I smile at you,

My beautiful daughter,

As you nurse yourself to sleep.

My nursing toddler.

With your droopy eyelids fluttering,

Your tired blue eyes aren't really seeing me,

The way I am watching you,

Or the love in my heart for you.

Still, you know how I feel.

As you drink the sweet milk from my breast,

and lay here beside me, you know.

You will always know.