Quietly putting the cradle away
We hold one another in tears
Of sorrow.

The empty cardboard box
Mocks us by its very presence
We fill it.

Slowly we place each item
Into its empty cavern with
Reverence

For the life that will never use them
Never smile for us or ask us for his
First bicycle.

Quietly packing our hopes away
For this one is not the same
As another

We hold each other with empty arms
Our unspoken thoughts only fears
Of tomorrow.

For My Lost One

My child, where have you gone?
Which side of this veil are you on?
Tiny crumpled empty shell of earth,
Does your soul await a second chance at birth?
Or have you moved along ahead of me,
Your work waiting in the realms I cannot see?
Small comfort lies in things as yet unknown.
This my musing in the cleansing ebb and flow
Of tides of time, swirling life with death:
Where are you, who knew not birth nor breath?

maternal instinct

i saw a show once
one of those
nature things

it had an
elephant
prodding
her dead baby to get up
get up
why won't it get up
she couldn't understand
i didn't understand
why
she didn't know
what
happened

only now
do i understand

Sensitivity

And I suppose
If your child
Were hit by a truck tomorrow
I could say
What you just said
Well you could always have another one
You still have other children to be
Thankful for
And maybe it's all for the best
You never know how that one
Was going to turn out anyway
I suppose
That it would bring you comfort

For The Next One

O how I long to hold you
Gently in my arms,
Cup you in my hands
As mountain river water
And let you sparkle through
My fingertips

I fear you will only be a dream to me
A mirage of water in my desert
My desert of empty longing
And if I touch you, you
Might vanish in a flickering
Sparkle of light

Journey

It has been a long voyage.
I have waited for this moment
For eternities.
I have finally arrived.

But for a small moment,
I grow in the darkened cave
I call my home.
I stretch my new-formed limbs
Listening to the strange, muted noises
That greet my ears as I wait.

Suddenly I feel urged onward,
Outward, my serene world
Disturbed by my mother's cries.
I open my eyes
To the brilliant light
And enter suddenly into the world.
Startled into utterance
I announce with majesty
I am here.