I Saw Your Life

This was written for a friend who miscarried 

I saw your life

In the privacy of my bathroom

I peed on a plastic stick

And my entire life changed

I saw your life

I saw your innocent smile

I heard your infectious laughter

I inhaled your new baby scent

I saw your rocking turn into crawling

I saw you let go of my hand 

And take your first clumsy steps

I heard your squeals and gibberish 

I listened as they soon mimicked words

As eventually a ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ formed

I watched you scoot on toys 

And then the tricycle and bike

Feeling apprehension and dread

When the training wheels came off

I saw the excitement in your eyes

The first day you boarded the yellow bus

And how you ran to greet me each day

When it brought you back home to me

I saw report cards and parties

School Dances and first loves

And graduation ceremonies

I watched you grow up

Filled with life and promise

Determined to change the world

I saw you fall in love

I saw your heart break

And watched you fall again

I saw your college days

I saw your wedding

I saw my grandchildren

I saw all of that

In the privacy of my bathroom

Holding a plastic stick

Telling me you were coming

I saw your life

And I felt it all ripped away

There are medical terms

All sanitized and proper

To put in into a statistic

It can’t ever tell the story

It can’t ever express the pain

It will never explain the loss

I saw your life

You changed the world

That’s what’s missing now

I saw your life

© Ron Simpson Jr.