BABY UNKNOWN
What would you say to me,
Baby unknown?
Would you blame me for your life unlived?
I would have held you if I could
I would.
It was not to be--
Unhappily.
What would you ask of me,
Baby unborn?
Would you wish that you were not conceived?
I would have carried you to term
I yearned.
It was not to be—
Unhappily.
~~
I never knew why you could not become
A breathing bundle cuddled at my breast
You never made the safety
Was it best?
My baby never held
Unhappily.
~~
What would you want of me,
Baby of ours?
Would you want to walk the sunny days?
I would have welcomed you to earth
In birth.
It was not to be—
Unhappily.
What would you make of me,
Baby unseen?
Would you find me wanting in your life?
I would have tried to be a friend to you
It’s true.
But it was not to be—
Unhappily.
~~
I wonder sometimes what your name would be
If you had lived beyond the early weeks
You slipped away in silence
I could weep
My baby-not-to-be
Unhappily.
And yet your life would take away the child
Born a year beyond your phantom birth
My lovely daughter- would I trade her now?
If I could bring you back to me somehow?
My baby, it is nothing you could ask
So rest in peaceful slumber in the past.
Baby Unknown
