Child of grace

A child of grace
You came as
One of us
To touch each
Heart full of joy
At love’s embracing
Held in mother’s arms
With trusting ease
Smiling tender sweet
As a child of grace.

A ‘palindromic’ poem, which can be read starting at either end, for my Goddaughter, Hannah Emma Grace

When the time came

When the time came,
As suddenly as it was
Expected, the time
Passed, but not spent,
Is the time upon which
We dwell. Bittersweet
Partings were so
Future-distant when first
We reunioned, and time
Was long and wide open,
And plans were loose
And fancy free, but
Now the acute tick-tocking
Awareness of seconds
Passing by and never
Stopping reminds us
Of the relentless truth
That when the time came
It also went.