Inclusive Little Girl

for my daughter



The mothers were all lined up at the tables,
Drinking their coffee.
I didn't know these women very well.
My husband had always driven our daughter to the meetings.
I heard a voice beside me. "You're Alia's mother," she said.
She pointed out her daughter, a tiny one who had Down Syndrome.
"Alia's a nice little girl," I heard.
I smiled and murmured something, but I could not return the compliment.
I had never met her child.

The mother leaned over. Obviously that wasn't enough.
"She's a very... inclusive little girl."
And my eyes filled with tears,
Because suddenly I knew everything.
I looked at the little girl who was this woman's daughter,
And I looked across the room at my Alia,
And I knew what kind of person
I had brought into the world.

In His Garden you shall play forever,
Inclusive little girl.


a poem for my son
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