Today is a feast —
On this day was born a man and a dad,
Whom one should also count as a grandfather.
I.
How to congratulate him,
They try to find out.
What to give —
The family wonders.

Though everyone has long known, one’s own and strangers: every year he asks,
And that is enough for him,
If they’d toss him three times, catch him three times
And they would understand:

Not for the birthday boy’s glory, but so they would remember
That they had a father,
They held him,
They played at dad.
They took a blessing from him.
They shook him out.