To The Greatest Gift - Performed

To the Greatest Gift

Well at least that’s what they tell me you are

You’re better than roller blades or a laptop

You’re better than cookies or pizza

They tell me you’re the greatest gift

But I have trouble comprehending

Like the monster under the bed, unseen

What could possibly make something “The Greatest?”

From the moment, I receive you, I know

You will be hard work, sleep deprivation and responsibility

They tell me you’re the greatest gift

You will also be the smile on my face

You will become my clock

You will become the answer to the question
"How are you?"

Can it be

That you are the one that is receiving the greatest gift?

The welcome reception that will be held

in your honor by all those who somehow love

you, the being that does not even exist

Your father

Never retaliating or responding in kind

When I’m on a ship in a never ending storm

and acting like the pirate captain
Bringing Ginger-ale and crackers
Cracking jokes
to elicit a smile

Or my father, who lifts the crippling pressure

As if with the ease

of a man lifting a feather

When in reality

it has the weight of a boulder

Or my mother

Who hugs me through me

the nonsense that I spurt

like a whale coming up for air

Or my friends

The ones who knew

and who suffered through my Mr. Hyde

through the waves coming as frequently as the ocean

So perhaps

You are receiving the greatest gift

You are entering a world of rainbows and butterflies

Because these people won’t let you see the truth

You will only know love

They tell me you're the greatest gift

And my hope is that you only continue

to bring out the greatest gifts

In all of those around you

To my greatest gift

I await you with baited breath