A tribute to mothers and daughters, the strength of love, the fragility of life. This poem was written by Yvette Johnson. I will use it in the preface to my novel. It is printed here with permission from the poet.

For Your Daughter
By Yvette Johnson

Best we believe in something, even if it’s how the
sand breaks beneath our feet, even it’s tree
sap or vapor in a wall,
we best believe in something to carry us when
our knees grieve.
take the moment when you sail away,
an imprecise evening
and when you do that, you burst and how sudden
you feel, how first
because the land is slipping off into moonlit
water and you know
you are the diamond, the turning leaf.



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