[Jones Pat]

Thank you all for this thread. Having recently lost a son, not a child, but one who remained a child in many ways, I have loved reading these poems, wept but also received comfort from them all..two in particular, Mid-term Break by Heaney because it speaks so honestly to sibling loss...and the other, the Kooser that David posted...it is just so midwestern, like me, so like something I might do.

Thanks again, all.

Pat

[ChrisGeorge]

Dylan Thomas's poem, "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London," posted above is appropriate at this time, I think, given the execrable events in Britain at this moment.

Chris

[David Anthony]

Dunno, Chris.

The rioters are nearly all teenagers.

Nearly all Afro-Caribbean too, though you won't see that in the news reports.

Best regards,

David

[Gail White]

This is a deeply moving thread which I just discovered. So here's my
favorite, by John Beaumont:

OF HIS DEAR SON, GERVASE

Dear Lord, receive my son, whose winning love
To me was like a friendship, far above
The course of nature or his tender age;
Whose looks could all my bitter griefs assuage:
Let his pure soul, ordain'd seven years to be
In that frail body which was part of me,
Remain my pledge in Heaven, as sent to show
How to this port at every step I go.

[John (J.D.) Smith]

I'll add a small poem of my own.




Elegy
We weren’t allowed the time to contemplate
What talents he in time might come to show,
What fame or wealth he might accumulate,
What love and other passions he might know.

We had, instead, the chance to see him crawl
And graduate to solid food, to take
Some wobbling steps that ended in a fall,
To hand an uncle’s dog a piece of cake.

To say more is to claim a flare’s bright arc
Could have reached high, though it had scarcely flown
Before dissolving in the larger dark.
We fall back on the facts, which stand alone.

He seldom cried. He used to point at birds.
And now he will be missed beyond all words.

[David Anthony]

Beautiful poem, John.
Best regards,
David

[Roger Slater]

Wow, John. That' great.

[John (J.D.) Smith]

David, Roger,

Thank you both.

As these things go, it is based on facts.

To state the painfully obvious, it would be better if this poem hadn't been prompted.

[Jayne Osborn]

Hello John (J.D.),

It's been a while since we met in London and watched the performance of your terrific play, but I still talk about it!

This poem is moving... "beyond all words."

Jayne

[Laura Heidy-Halberstein]

Beautiful, JD. Thank you. Sharing agony is the hardest thing. I am sorry you have had it to share.

Lo