Parental Lament
This poem, written from the (terrified) heart of a new Dad, originally appeared in DogEar magazine.
My boy is sleeping safe in bed
Without a tumour in his head.
No hepatitis, septicaemia.
No lymphoma, no leukaemia.
His heart is strong, his breathing sure.
The marrow in his bones is pure.
No ADD, MS, ME,
CF, MD or HIV.
We drove him safely to his school,
And back again. He swam the pool
Untroubled, laughing, loving it.
No seizure, stroke or fatal fit.
No aircraft engine yet has failed.
No train come lethally derailed.
He moves from trampoline to tree
To bicycle, to skate and ski,
Unharmed, unruffled, innocent.
No injury. No accident.
He sleeps. We sleep. Another day
Is passed in ease. We made more hay.
No horror here, no sudden shark.
No plunge into the depthless dark.
No slip from sunshine into sorrow.
But there’s always tomorrow. Always tomorrow.
