I wrote a poem about Lily when she was almost a year-and-a-half old. Though she has hazel eyes now, back then she had eyes the color of the North Atlantic Ocean (blue with a strong gray), but “North Atlantic Ocean” doesn’t fit easily in a poem rhythmically or in rhyme, so I used the North Sea, off Britain, since that's part of her heritage. Her father built her a fairy garden, so I brought that theme into the poem. She loves the moon, used to ask for it over and over again even in the afternoon, so I brought the moon in, too. Another image in the poem is that of sea pinks, which grow near the North Sea.
Beautiful girl with the North Sea eyes,
which, depthless as legend, round as the rain,
dazzle like sunstone on Celtic plain,
your eyes are the color of paradise.
Beautiful you with your soft brown hair,
as you dance to the notes of a whistling rune,
your music, a message from the moon,
threads through the fabric of the air.
Dear little girl with my heart in your hands,
child of heaven and faerie rings,
sea pinks, and sweetness, your smile brings
enchantment and gifts from Arcadian lands.
Beautiful girl with the North Sea eyes,
which, depthless as legend, round as the rain,
dazzle like sunstone on Celtic plain,
your eyes are the color of paradise.
Beautiful you with your soft brown hair,
as you dance to the notes of a whistling rune,
your music, a message from the moon,
threads through the fabric of the air.
Dear little girl with my heart in your hands,
child of heaven and faerie rings,
sea pinks, and sweetness, your smile brings
enchantment and gifts from Arcadian lands.