Anais's Song

Question:

Anais Gaffud [Age 8]

What does a poetic collaboration between my Godchild Anais Gaffud and me look like?

La voilà:

[Anais - Verse 1]
A little girl was born in France,
Then moved to the States and said, "It's great!"
She went to town and saw the cars; said they're big!
In France they're small.
Everything here was bigger.

[Suhas - Verse 1]
She had heard English in France,

But never spoken this way - with a twang that is.

She tried to decipher what her friends were saying.
"Aunt" had become "Ant",
"F-aa-h-knee" was now "Fey-knee".

[Anais - Verse 2]
So she went to school to learn some English,
2 months after she talked the language.
She loved the country,
Her teachers and her friends.
She loved everything, but most of all her house.
She had a big pool in her yard.

[Suhas - Verse 2]
They said her brain was like a sponge,
Absorbing everything, forgetting nothing
New words, new phrases
New idioms, new accents
At night when she rested, her brain went into high gear
Reinventing her for the next day.

[Anais - Verse 3]

Everybody made her smile.
And everybody loved her style.
Everyday she had some fun,

With all her friends in the lawn.

[Suhas - Verse 3]
Days turned to weeks
Weeks into months and then years
One day she was working a rake
Next day she was brandishing a shovel
Day after day her confidence grew
In her ways, her personality shone through

[Anais - Verse 4]
Winter was finally coming

She was waiting for it to be snowing.
Then the snow finally came

And it snowed up until her hips.
She made a snowman
and called it Stan

[Suhas - Verse 4]
Days became longer and

The sun rays became stronger

Piles of snow disappeared and

Daffodils and tulips appeared
Away from the neighbors' eyes

She had grown tall and wise

[Anais - Verse 5]
After two years, the day finally came.
She was going back to France
Everybody heard the news
And said ''That's sad''
Then the she took a plane
And went to France
And said bye bye to all her friends...

[Suhas - Verse 5]
It ended just the way it started

On the wings of anxiety she departed
There was now a confidence about her

Having persevered, as daughter & sister
A joy about returning home

But also sadness about feeling alone
New friends waiting in France
Old ones to be remembered in trance
Can one really say what comes next
Arabic, Devanagari or Mandarin text?

Let your life be like a beach
Where myriad shells a path beseech
Skipping from white ones to ones that shine
Leaving footprints on the sands of time
It is in loving that you will love discover
In inspiring others, inspiration uncover
Life's nothing but a grand irony
If you love somebody, set them free
Be happy little one, ever devout
Always persevering, down, never out

In yours I find a spirit divine
Flowering on the life's tortuous vine
A vine rooted in truth and humility
Nurtured by Readings and Homilies
Holding firm in storm or rain
Burgeoning forth, never in vain
If despair ever were to cloud your days
Use your faith and follow His ways
There is just one of Him but He will run
To your aid, no matter when you beckon