Dancing, she hit her hip on the table, stepping

up onto the wooden platform, the stage

the audience clapping in rhythm of her swinging floral.

There was no kissing, only a hand on her shoulder

a tuning knob turned down

a sweet serenity came over her as she stepped back onto the floor.

Her fingernails grazed his cheek.

Christopher is my oldest child by six and a half minutes. He is the most outgoing of my children, he smiles the most, and is the most protective. He is the most inquisitive, the one who loves sports and physical contact, the one who has a temper, but also a good-naturedness that borders on class. He is the first to talk to strangers, to make contact with them. He said once, Mum do you read too much or not enough? I said, there's never enough.

The first new years Harry and I spent together was blurred by thick, foamy beers and bright colored dresses. Rev held me by the elbow as we walked behind a large crowd on Dawson Street, and Harry held my other hand, letting his fingers linger on my palm. We were all drunk, laughing, wanting more time together before school and other less predictable things changed our lives forever. Girls oggled the men on my arms, blew whistles through their teeth, offered numbers as I laughed, flushed, became embarassed at my luck and good fortune to have such friends. Boys stared as we passed as a threesome, not looking directly behind at me, afraid of what their sneers and winks might produce.

This new years, we laid in bed, sleeping kids littered over the edges, champagne in Rev and Harry's hands, little Ginny in mine.

Christopher's twin, Christian Tucker (Tuck) is a little less outgoing, though much more comedic. Tuck powers through witty observations and is always making me laugh. He is calm and inclusive, he loves the pictures in books, and loves American baseball. When he got his first bat this year he said, If I hit it hard maybe I'll become famous. I have no doubt he will, he has the famous face.

Carving a life out of gray granite,

singing into the navy black hole. Sweet

weddings and laughing--wine, blossoms

themed in perceptible chorus.