Neonatal
It's the child not death that gets at you; The way his father Clutches him to his bosom The way the mother Stares blankly on; Deprived of neonatal joy Denied it's parenthood. It's the way he lowers him Into his eternal bed of dark earth The way he looks back At his wife bravely, silently wailing. It's the baby Not death that gets at you; His darken, once radiant face His tiny fingers in a final clutch His innocence His deprivation It's the baby Not death. ~ Jude Ifeme Burying my newly born nephew was my first, he was just one week old. The hardest thing in the world is to ever have something you wish for but couldn't keep. Watching my sister and her husband was devastating, but I was decimated at the sight of the dead baby, and the thought of all the things that could have been.