Shut Down

I could see she was slipping away,
I didn’t know what to say.

In that moment, I had shut her down.
Her eager smile, abruptly morphed into a frown.

Was I too busy to offer her a deep look in her eyes?
Even though I was looking - did my gaze tell a lie?

I apologized, letting my hands go free and said,
”I’m sorry - talk to me.”

But the damage was done.
Her openness I had shunned.

I sat and pondered - how could I draw her vulnerability back out?
That’s when I opened up to what I was thinking about.

I told her of childhood crushes and being anxious on the bus,
And before I knew it - THERE. There we were again, just us.

My open fragility could be felt in the air,
And slowly, her heart opened again, because she felt she was in deep care.

She started to tell me everything on her mind,
And right then and there I noticed a piece of motherhood needing to be refined.