Saturday, April 18, 2009

He Meets Us In The Dark

This is a poem by my son, Brian, in the aftermath of their miscarriage. Brian and Jennifer, my son and daughter-in-law.

Empty.
A new twig on the tree
But no leaves budding,
Unfurling miniature fingers.
Spring has come,
But brittle branches
Stretch with barren stiffness
Poised for nothing?
This little limb meant more.
The ache of sap rises in my bones,
Leaks into tears, small sighs
For small deaths;
Not for what is,
But for what could have been.

Roots are for these days.
My wife and I delve deeply down
Dark and blind paths
Under earth, soul-roots thirsting
Seeking, crying for comfort
In half-finished prayers;
And before we are done
He meets us in the dark,
Wet with His tears
Shed on another tree,
Yes. He loves.
We drink sovereign stillness
And let our questions go,
Satisfied.

7 comments:

Word Tosser said...

BEAUTIFUL

Jeanie said...

Very beautiful and poignant. My heart aches for you - but I'm with you. He carries you. Those are His footprints in the sand.

... said...

Very nice.

Tumblewords: said...

Touching poem...thank you for sharing.

Bay Views said...

Thank you all for your loving thoughts. I screwed up when I copied and pasted his poem. I got the first word, which was "empty" and pasted it. It turns out that his title was different, and is correctly reflected in the post now.

Brian H. said...

Thanks Dad.

Bay Views said...

I may have forgotten to say this, but I'm terribly proud of my son and daughter-in-law.