Favorite maternity overalls

Are shoved in a corner.

Too bitter a reminder,

Embroidered flowers wrinkle.

Just a week ago

Strangers smiled sweetly,

Asking baby's due date.

A noncommittal response

And flitting smile satisfy.

Pregnant mother steps away,

Shielding sudden tears.

A litany of hearty congratulation

Is heard all day, draining,

As a refrain keeps buzzing,

False, false, this cheer.

Before was joy,

A firstborn boy.

Fresh pain wails,

He will never be.

Such a close due date.

Tomorrow's admission

Is already scheduled.

Today must be endured.

Twenty plus hours

Of induced labor, and

Once pregnant mother

Holds in her arms

A perfectly formed,

So silent, baby boy.

L&D nurses

Stamp his footprint,

Measure his length,

Snap a photograph,

And snuggle her boy

In soft blankets

For a final goodbye.

Unceasing sorrow

Cocoons both parents.

Surreal, this parting moment,

As together they mourn.

Holding her boy

For the first and last time,

She softy murmurs

While smoothing his dark hair,

Look, tiny fingers and toes.

Nothing looks wrong.

Fresh tears overflow, overwhelm.

Reality never left them alone.

No words make it all better.

Farewells do not take long.

Forever, parents remember.

Funeral plans wait.

They will bury

Her stillborn son

Day after tomorrow.

AFTERWORD

After our stillborn, I was blessed to give birth to 2 more sons, our treasures. It has been more than 30 years, and this is the first time I ever wanted to put this old sorrow onto paper. Mistakenly, I thought it would tear open an old wound. Instead, I cried a tear, but was comforted at the memory of love and hope we had for our child. We will always remember our son and the kindness of the labor and delivery nurses. Now, although those surreal moments are still vivid, the grief is mute. Time does heal.