A boy named Jermaine, loved music and trains
And looking at rainbows and seashells and planes 
Each day he explored, with his Mommy in tow, 
There were so many things Jermaine wanted to know!

Like, “Where do fish come from?” “Where’d the dinosaurs go?”
And, “How is it that the Great Evergreen grows?”
But one question had troubled Jermaine for a while, 
as he ventured about with his mischievous smile.  
He knew there were things beyond those he could see;
Jermaine wondered aloud, “How did I come to be?” 

He went to his mother (who loved him so much
that she kissed him and hugged him and squeezed him and such),
And asked her, point blank, as he climbed on her knee
“Can you tell me,” he asked, the way I came to be?

“Bright boy,” Mom began, wondering how to respond
As Jermaine snuggled up on her lap and he yawned
“Your story begins just like all ours do, dear,
in a faraway place that is also right here.”

“See, you’ve always been you,” Jermaine’s mommy mused,
(though it seemed that her boy only grew more confused);
“You once were an angel, who fluttered above--
a beautiful spirit, made up of pure love.”  

“Your mommy was too; we all, before birth,
were spirits who chose to spend time on Earth
to enjoy all the things our lives are made of--
inventing, exploring, most importantly: Love.”

Jermaine trusted his mommy, beyond any doubt, 
though he had no clue what she was talking about.
He looked at her as she continued to speak
on how God had made each of us humans unique.

“What’s God?” asked Jermaine, as his thoughts wildly swirled.
“Why God,” answered Mommy, “is all the love in the world!”
“God’s what we’re all made of, God’s all that we see--
The land and the sky and the earth and the sea.” 

“The kiss on your cheek by a cool summer breeze,
the taste of a freshly unwrapped slice of cheese, 
the wail and the squall of a train coming through,
the honk of a seagull, God’s me and God’s you.”

Jermaine looked at Mommy with gorgeous brown eyes
And asked, with some insight to Mommy’s surprise, 
“So I’m more than this body, these hands and these feet
that walk on their tiptoes down each city street?
I’m more than this face, with its beautiful smile?
My body’s just where my soul lives for a while?”

“Yes, my wise boy,” Mommy said with a wink,
“You understand so much more than you think.
You’re made out of love, you came from the stars
With one single goal: to be who you are.”

“Whatever that means, whomever you’ll be, 
Is absolutely OK by me!
Mommy’s job is to help you, and that’s what I’ll do;
Mommy’s purpose on Earth: to help you become YOU.”  

“Remember, my child, from today till you’re grown
God is here all the time, and you’re never alone,
You’re surrounded by Love, you’re made of it too;
it’s yours all the time, this will always be true.”

“Sometimes we forget how precious we are--
How we all once were angels who came from the stars.
But if you close your eyes gently and sit very still,
deep breaths, baby boy, and remember you will…”

“…that you’re safe and your loved, every day, all the time; 
and no matter what happens you’ll always be mine.
Understand?” Mommy asked, “Love will keep you from harm.”
But her boy was already asleep in her arms. 

by Robin Bacigalupo