I don’t remember plans we might have made
My memory was broken by the car
I know you could have left; I know you stayed
The image of me must have been bizarre
With love you leaned and whispered in my ear
I moved my head to let you know I heard
You said I had to heal to hold you near
enough to make a baby; make your third
I know my dreams of Mari Hope were real
My daughter fills my heart and fills my mind
with love for her; she tells me I must feel
her love for me and one day I will find
her tiny hand of trust within my hand
She waits until her entrance has been planned.
This sonnet was written for my girlfriend in 2010. She stood by my hospital bed and told me to get better so that we could “make a baby.” When I found out that my ex-girlfriend was involved with someone else while I was recovering from my accident, I went to bed very upset one night. I had a dream in which a beautiful little girl came up to me in a field, took my hand, and said, “It’s okay Daddy. She’s not the right one.” Mari is my ex-girlfriend’s middle name and I always thought that would be our daughter’s name. But since my ex-girlfriend was not the right one, her middle name was not the right name either. My daughter’s name is Susanna Hope Ennis.