If the happiness you've found is true and
If his smiling face provides more joy than
All the inside jokes we shared when you, a
Helpless babe, a whining tot, a needy
Teen, would tolerate (you'd laugh, explain: that's
Daddy, my best friend; he mocks dumb boys who
Try to woo me)— Don't be sorry, for I—
I can't protect, provide, prevent in age.
I am old— he is young; he is strong. Soon
He will become a father, the head of
A family. I have sacrificed myself
For you, because you are my child, precious—
A lily among thorns, my only girl.
To love his bride, as Christ the church— his call.
