Wednesday, May 25, 2022

For a Parent on the Death of a Child

 

No one knows the wonder

Your child awoke in you,

Your heart a perfect cradle

To hold its presence.

Inside and outside became one

As new waves of love

Kept surprising your soul.


Now you sit bereft

Inside a nightmare,

Your eyes numbed

By the sight of a grave

No parent should ever see.


You will wear this absence

Like a secret locket,

Always wondering why

Such a new soul

Was taken home so soon.


Let the silent tears flow

And when your eyes clear

Perhaps you will glimpse

How your eternal child

Has become the unseen angel

Who parents your heart

And persuades the moon

To send new gifts ashore.


--John O'Donohue 

[In honor of the children who were slaughtered yesterday at Robb Elementary School.]






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