i don’t want to think
of your new pink backpack,
your hand-me-down uniform,
or your first steps into kindergarten.

wasn’t it just yesterday
that we swung you in the car seat
into the hospital elevator,
calling you Mythili by mistake?

how can we move from birthday
to first day of school in one week?
it’s too much for this old mom,
this worked-through-baby-years mom.

but it will have to be.
tomorrow’s the big day,
the beginning of the endless
letting goes that you and i must face.