by Casie Dodd

My daughter looks up, eyes gleaming 
as water still tickles her face.
She babbles for joy in the newness of life:
“Da ba, ba da” (Bathe this child in light).
The Salve Regina hums now sad, now smooth,
and Kate cannot stop singing:
“Da da da, ba ba” (Turn, then, your eyes).
Her gaze takes to the altar as all turns to glitter—
now white becomes gold—our sighs
lift up her Mother higher 
and higher, impossibly higher:
“Ah ma, ma mama” (Make holy this ground).

Arise, O Lord, a new heart has been crowned:
Our life, our sweetness, our hope.

Casie Dodd lives in Arkansas with her husband and two children. Her writing has appeared in Fare Forward, Ekstasis, Front Porch Republic, and other journals. She is currently in the MFA program at the University of St. Thomas (Houston).