Having induced sweet slumber upon the babe,
myself indulging in the same,
I shut my eyes and the world stood still.
Dreamt only of dear infant's health,
well-being, smell, laughter,
three months, or eternity, of perfection.
(I shut my eyes, but the world dropped dead.)
I didn't mean to take you with me:
I intended to wake up, you see.
I shut my eyes, and you just dropped dead.
Will the child wake from his nap?
Will breath pass through these purple lips?
Will these blue cheeks puff with hunger?
(You shut your eyes and simply dropped dead.)
Now what will I do? Loss of a focal point.
Loss of a life. Loss of my life with yours.
When you shut your eyes, my world dropped dead.
Author notes
This might seem a little too convenient for the contest, but it's true: my 3-month-old baby died of SIDS yesterday.
Put him down for a nap... wondered why he'd been sleeping for so long... went to pick him up, and I could already see he was dead. As stated in the poem, his lips were purple, skin completely white. Limp as a rag doll, as they say.
Not much of a poem, I know, but I'm really just using this time as an excuse to escape for a while.
www.dontfa.de
You can see his pictures there, of when he was alive. We haven't gotten around to updating it just yet.
I might come back and work on this a little more.
A contest entry
- 5000 points winner takes all. Easy stuff. by Nogod.
5000 points, ended March 3, 2008, 24 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
-
How quickly one life stops. How sad a time for you. So hard to come to terms with - this is a yesterday you will remember for a long time. So sorry.
-
I looked a the photos: what a treasure! I can't imagine your loss! As a small child, my wife lost a brother to SIDS (although there was no name for the phenominum back then). She says the only memory she has of him is that of him in the casket in their sitting room at home. It still makes her sad.
All I can say is , Mrs. Sheafer, is that I offer you my deepest condolences. -
loss for words...but in my heart...I want to hug you...and I think...no parent should feel this pain...no one...
Adding your comment:
