First birth like all others of flesh
     A helpless human infant child
     Destined: grow, age, at last to die

On second birth was born to love
     In shadow under stars and moon
     Was doomed to fail as all first love

Through third birth was born to hope
     A kindred light to shine on heart
     On the long restoration road

Fourth birth again reborn to love
     Resisted sight on instant fire
     That burned within full hope and joy

Fifth birth next was reborn to God
     Answer call of the ancient road
     Through water passed to Christ's embrace

The sixth birth was the birth of child
     A father born through daughter's eyes
     New borne responsibility

Seventh birth was the poet's heart
     Rebirth of a forgotten gift
     Awake, alive, at last, to be

Each birth a passage to new eyes
     New thought and new reality
     New sun in sky, new joy in heart