White Death

The screaming child squirms in it's bassinet,

Howling in agony, painfully passionate.

His mother leans over him sobbing,

watching his tiny frame bobbing

up and down in misery.

"Lord, stop this wretchedness,

Cure my baby of this fowl illness.

His small stature and delicate physique

Cannot manage the havoc wreaked.

Lord, let my baby sleep in peace."

As the mother sings her prayer,

A figure appears ever so fair.

Cloaked in a white gown

With a heavenly crown.

To save her baby from his anguish.

The glowing angel hovers over the baby

And the mother prays today be

The day her child be liberated

From the horror he'd been fated.

She shakes, awaiting his bodily freedom.

The figure in white cradles the child in her arms

And he ceases writhing as if hypnotized by her charms.

She walks the child to the window and hums.

A haze of white light materializes and comes

To take the now quiet child and figure to their heavenly destination.

Reviews

[barleygirl]

What a stunning & heart-moving story about the death of a child. You’ve brought up so many things I’ve pondered all my life. I never had kids becuz the thought of losing a child would be too devastating. Yet your poem makes this experience feel like a logical & needed process, a blessed relief to both mom & child. I’ve seen the way moms can be so distraught, not knowing how to soothe her child. But you’ve heightened that idea to an intensity I never imagined before. I love the imagery of white with angel, all artfully crafted to help us accept such a necessary tragedy (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie