Leaning Hard

Child of my love, lean hard,
And let me feel the pressure of thy care.
I know thy burden, child; I shaped it,
Poised in mine own hand, made no proportion
in its weight to thine unaided strength,
For even as I laid it on I said,
"I shall be near, and while she leans on me,
This burden shall be mine, not hers;
So shall I keep my child within the circling arms
of mine own love." Here lay it down, nor fear
To impose it on a shoulder which upholds the government of worlds.
Yet closer come,
Thou art not near enough, I would embrace thy care,
So I might feel my child reposing on my breast.
Thou lovest me? I know it. Doubt not, then,
But, loving me, lean hard.
~Isabel Kuhn