My husband and I became grandparents this week! My son and his wife welcomed their daughter, Hazel, to the world on Wednesday afternoon. It’s been an incredible journey, and I can’t quite believe it’s real. I’ve spent most of the past 48 hours staring at the pictures they’ve sent. (Thank goodness for that miracle!) She arrived a week ahead of schedule, so I was still knitting a hat for her. As I finished the final stitches, the shape of the crown set words whirling through my head. This draft is the result of a very happy, but very tired mind.
A Hat for Hazel
On the night you were born,
I knit you a hat.
At the top, stitches disappeared,
whirling, whorling,
spiraling into a singularity:
A galaxy of wool.
Outside, a billion stars whirled
overhead, glittering in celebration.
You stretched ten perfect fingers,
tipped with spiraling whorls
high above your head,
beginning your dance with the world.
Draft © 2020 Catherine Flynn
Please be sure to visit Jone MacCulloch at DeoWriter for the Poetry Friday Roundup.
Reading to the Core 
Hooray! Oh, that photo of Hazel is so precious. She’s really ready to be here! What Grandmother love, a poem upon a birth. You know, that’s a tradition that must be maintained. There are beautiful lines in ‘A Hat for Hazel.’ “As the stitches disappeared,” the hat was born just like she was under the beautiful star filled sky. Your joy is contagious. I’m smiling here as I type. Enjoy this!
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There is nothing as precious as a new baby, but the experience of becoming a grandmother is full of so many emotions. “beginning your dance with the world.” I hope you send the poem with the hat. When do you get to see her? I’m so excited for you!
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What an event! Congratulations! She is destined to stretch her entire life! So much fun in your future, Grandmother!
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Congratulations!! I love her name, the hat, and your poem. Wonderful blessings to you!
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Catherine, congratulations! So happy for you and your entire family. Hazel is beautiful. On the night our first grrandchild was born in California I, too, was waiting anxiously (so far away in New Hampshire) for the news. When the pictures arrived just after 1 am, what did I do– wrote him his first poem. Hazel is now in the palm of your hearts. She is poetry.
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Congratulations! This is so lovely! I love the connections between the stitches, the galaxy and especially the swirling fingerprints. Love.
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Wonderful! Congratulations! Such a lovely poem with the shape of the hat, how the top swirls as a metaphor. Enjoy your little lovely little one.
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Congratulations!!! A beautiful poem for a beautiful granddaughter. Love the imagery and the loving feeling in your words. “Dance with the world” = perfect ending/beginning. 🙂
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Congratulations, Catherine. What a beautiful baby girl. Welcome Hazel, and welcome to being a grandmother. Now you know why I’m always posting pictures! I love your beautiful hat & connecting those stitches with the starts, a poem for hazel is a most special thing..
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Congratulations, Catherine! I’m so happy for you! Your poem is such a beautiful celebration of Hazel’s arrival, and, like the adorable hat, is intricately stitched together. I love how you moved from the hat, to the universe, to Hazel’s spirally whorled fingertips. I, too, hope you send the poem along with the hat–or better yet, deliver both in person.
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Congratulations! Enjoy every moment of grandparenting. Hazel had an adorable hat and a beautiful poem to welcome her into her dance with the world
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Congratulations!! How exciting! She is gorgeous!!
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Catherine, congratulations and welcome to the world Little Hazel. There is nothing like Grandmother Love which you are already feeling. The hat you created (which is beautiful) is filled with loving stitches that will grace the head of a sweet little one who is reaching out into the world. Someday Hazel will look at her hat and think of the time when her Grandmother not only made it but created an inspiration poem.
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Congratulations, Catherine! Being a grandparent is one of the best blessings of life! I love the poem with the whorls in the hat and on the fingertips. Your grand Hazel is a true and beautiful miracle. Enjoy!
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Oh! Your poem and the pictures of Hazel and her hat made tears spring to my eyes! So much joy…for you, and a lifetime of joy for her! Congratulations all around!
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Oh baby, Hazel, your grammy has made you a beautiful hat. And I hope that you frame your poem for her. If she was born on Wednesday, January 29, she shares my birthday.
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SO lovely—baby Hazel, the precious hat, your sweet poem, everything. Congratulations, Catherine! ❤
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I read this last week (You had me at baby!) but didn’t get a chance to comment. Congratulations! And what a treasure of a poem and gift. So happy for you!
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