Her eyes shed despair so tired and weak
Though a soft satin touch caresses her cheek
She faithfully, tearfully hugs to her breast
A vacant faced bundle of innocence blessed
Tiny heart beating body and soul
Love given so freely taking its toll.
Trace that young life so perfectly formed
Her young slender body keeping it warm
Look at her face so tender and beautiful
It was you gave her life with labour so dutiful
Though your spirit is broken, consider your quest
And murmur a prayer for this infant at rest.
Born in this wilderness, caught in the night
Drawn to this world by a fireside light,
From the cot take this infant down to the shore.
Let her see the sun dawning, glimpse the dark lore
For a mother in mourning bequeath but a meal
Love’s hungry, love’s wounded emotions congeal
What hope for her life in this festering soil
With the sweat from her brow ablaze with its toil.
She must go to the God who granted her life
As wondrous nature ends all her strife.
Princess from the womb akin to a pauper
Unbuckle her gown for the death that has sought her
See the wave take her, life ebbing away
Woefully, wailfully ending her day
Till she cries out for love, her dignity perished
“Oh God let the tears of this life that was cherished
Sink into the sea of such desolation
And rest on the sands of some dark consolation.
A poem by John Anthony