This morning, at 7:05 am in Boston, my beautiful wife completed the feat of her life: she gave birth naturally to a boy, Asa Archibald Mele. Both Morra and Asa are happy and healthy. AsaMele.com is up and running. And I took a poem I loved and re-wrote it for the occasion:
Prayer for Asa
Dear Lord, fire-eating custodian of my soul,
creator of the volcanoes and finches’ wings,
guardian of lost dogs and wayward alley cats,
please protect this wet-cheeked baby from disabling griefs.
Grant him curiosity as broad as the expanse of the oceans
and ambition in his chosen ventures like the Ancient Romans.
Let him be inspired by the stark beauty of the Grand Canyon
and piqued by the mystery of the Northern Lights.
Allow him personal courage in his every action,
whether it be telling a friend hard truths or slaying
threatening beasts. Give him a constancy in tribulation
and sound nerves for every crisis, from the missing sock
to the world’s bigger disasters. Provide him a world of
delight and imagination, from the beetles of the jungle
and giraffes of the savannah to the astonishment
of molten sand becoming blown glass. Send him the world over,
discovering a discerning palate from kimchi to nasi lemak.
Give him his mother’s erudite vocabulary,
and her intense athletic poise.
Bless him with musical gifts unknown to his parents;
help him sense when to grin and when to roar.
May exuberance be his inheritance.
“Bravely, he has ventured among us, disguised
as a new comer, shedding remarkably few tears.”by Nicco Mele
(based on Amy Gerstler’s poem “Prayer for Jackson“)
Time for a nap. We’ve been up for more than two days; Morra went into labor the morning of New Year’s Day.
As If It Matters 
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