1968

Hands slide apart
A peek-a-boo surprise,
She shrieks as Mummy plays
A fragrant bundle of life

Loyal wet-nosed mongrel
Endures the pokes and prods
Whiskered dog face skin
Tugged by sticky fingers
As she bounces with laughter
Sweet sounds, unfettered delight
Plans made, bag packed, hands wiped
Tartan coat, woolly bonnet
Mittens joined with ribbon
Whilst baby kicks and writhes
Cherub bathed in shafts of sunlight
Contentment, comfort, delight

But life turns in an instant
Silence, a sudden sickly pallor
A doctor, helpless and hopeless
Delivers a child into Death’s embrace
Fell asleep, May 1st 1968
Suffer little children to come unto me
A few treasured memories
Of a darling daughter

Impotent father, desolate mother
Bewildered brother is told
That “Mandy’s gone to heaven”
Grief eclipsed by wild rage
The ornate cot smashed asunder
Fluffy bunnies stripped and shredded
Frilly dresses and pretty petticoats
Bagged and burned
God turned out the light
And a mother lost her faith

Anniversaries pass, unheeded
We focus on the living
Like it simply never happened
Just one black and white photograph
Brother and sister
That lost its lustre in the drawer
Now Daddy’s dead and Mummy’s sad
But she can’t remember why