Login
|
Join PoetrySoup
Home
Submit Poems
Login
Sign Up
Member Home
My Poems
My Quotes
My Profile & Settings
My Inboxes
My Outboxes
Soup Mail
Contest Results/Status
Contests
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Dictionary
Types of Poems
Quotes
Short Stories
Articles
Forum
Blogs
Poem of the Day
New Poems
Resources
Syllable Counter
Anthology
Grammar Check
Greeting Card Maker
Classifieds
Member Area
Member Home
My Profile and Settings
My Poems
My Quotes
My Short Stories
My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder
Soup Social
Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us
Member Poems
Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Random
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread
Member Poets
Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest
Famous Poems
Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100
Famous Poets
Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War
Poetry Resources
Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Email Poem
Your IP Address: 3.147.103.202
Your Email Address:
Required
Email Address Not Valid.
To Email Address:
Email Address Not Valid.
Required
Subject
Required
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
I first glanced at you Quietly looking away I'll never hold you My selfish declaration I'm not that strong Weaker than I perceived you were Seeing you behind those tiny bars Unable to lift your head from That stained mattress They said "Here, he's yours for the afternoon" I instantly felt all your bones Femur, spine, ribs, and radius Your pooched out belly is all that made that Onesy seem to fit Your sunken distant eyes were the exclamation Of your hunger, not just from food, but beyond Further When one's been touched it's possible To smile at death Hope makes such things possible But it's hope you never met And it was absent from our embrace As we sat on the stone bench in the tall weeds Of the hospital playground The other kids responding w/ laughter And smiles, giggles and games Sticking out their tongues at each other They said you were 4 You had never uttered a word Had yet to eat solid food, you were still Eating baby food You had yet to walk, you were too weak You'd been beaten, though Several times Unwanted, a curse You ground your teeth so loud I wanted to cry I began talking to you about Your future One day talking One day walking Eating solid food You didn't blink, you just stared blank Like I wasn't there Realization crept upon me and Snatched optimism from my bosom Next to where you lay I wept It was MY hope for you That had been hijacked not your own As far as I know you felt nothing I would be back home Within a week As mucous flowed from my nostrils Down the sides of my lip I grappled with my feelings that you Would be dead before I saw My children again My daughter playfully pedals bye Her head tilted back and to the side Bouncing Sandy blonde curls Almost touching the tricycle tires Chubby cheeks squinting eyes Smiling the perfect full baby tooth smile "Watch me daddy!" Riding in circles around the hot fire grill Filled with steak, mushrooms, and peppers "Daddy's watching you, little turkey" My baby is 4 and a half today To have a memorial, there first must be a day of importance
CAPTCHA Preview
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required