we wash you
little one
in water that has bathed all history’s children before you

each with hopes and longing
and a life to be lived

each with fear and sadness
and a death to be borne

we wash you with water
that has the power to bring life
to shape worlds
and to destroy

we wash you with the knowledge
that its story is beyond us to hold
and to control

and so we wash you with our love
and with a thousand prayers
and unspoken dreams
and with voice only for these:

that you will know you are not alone
and you will know this life is yours only
to live