THERE was a child went forth every day;
And the first object she look’d upon, that object she became;
And that object became part of her for the day, or a certain part of the day, or for many
years, or stretching cycles of years.
The fallen hazelnuts became part of this child.

And trees, and concrete and fresh-cut grass, and mud and empty pools, and the yelling of

other children,
And the swing sets, and the neighbors, and the porcupine with sharp spikes, and small

rocks,
And the wooden deck, and pine needles, and the mean man across the street,
And the sweet old woman next door who fed the child cookies,
And bicycles ridden, and toes stubbed, and late nights spent outside,
And big radiators and playing helicopter—all became a part of this child.

The showers in the rain and the hot, steaming pavement afterwards,
And the sweet taste of chocolate, and the child’s grandparent’s hugs,
And long walks in the woods to a place far, far away, and long walks to visit the animals,
And the many friends at daycare, and good food, and scary uncles,
And the snow-covered mountains, and the fake Halloween, and the chickens down the

road,
And warm summer nights, and cold winter evenings, and sharpening crayons, and

Listening to the Pogues,
All these Swiss happenings became a part of this child.

Her father liked to dance with her to Led Zeppelin,
And her mother cut out pictures of jewelry from magazines and newspaper ads,
And her parents took her to see other relatives,
And let her see her cousins, who gave her candy,
And her mother cooked delicious dinner that her father did not always like,
And both worked long days and therefore took her to daycare,
And their unconditional love and care of her all became a part of this child.

Elementary school started out hard, she had to learn the language,
And making new friends was not her strong suit, and long days at the YMCA exhausted

her.
And she and her best friend fought frequently, but always made up,
And then her parents divorced, and she lived in two houses, and she loved it,
And she got two Christmases, and double the presents,
And she made some more friends eventually, and time flew by, divided between school,

and family, and friends, and fighting with her brother,
And these years started to shape her and became a part of this child.

She eagerly started middle school but not totally ready, and she was still young,
And she had some more friends but not too many, and she was awkward,
And then she changed and got made fun of, and her dad moved forty-five minutes away,
And she relied on her cat for comfort, and she made new friends,
And briefly had a boyfriend, and was glad when middle school was over.

She entered high school ready to start fresh, and she was finally motivated,
Freshman year flew by with excellent grades and some new found friends but no
happiness,
Over the summer she met a boy, and she fell head-over-heals in love,
And then sophomore year started and she was distracted and did not do so well,
And then they broke up and her heart was broken but things were not totally over,
That summer they fought a lot and then junior year started and she had mono,
And missed a lot of school but was able to make up the work, and she spent sweet

sixteen sick on the couch,
And did well first semester but not second, and made lots of new friends, and was glad

things were officially over with the guy,
And summer started and she was glad, and she enjoyed her friends, the warmth, and
work,
And she started senior year but soon learned she had a combination of OCD, depression,

anxiety, and ADD,
And she struggled with that but was able to eventually overcome, and her schooling years

became a part of this child.

While she grew the world did too, and there were two presidents that she remembers,
And she greatly disliked one, and then the planes hit the two towers on 9/11,
And she realized the world was not as innocent as she thought,
And cell phones became big, and she loved hers, and she began to worry the world was

ending,
And war was going on, and every day she heard of far-away atrocities,
And she learned of past tragedies, and the horrors made her sad,
And the economy was not so great, and the threat of nuclear warheads was looming,
Her country told her to be scared, and she was, and these events became a part of this

child.

These became a part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will

always go forth every day.