Many of my poems originally appeared on the mailing list support group SPALS - Subsequent Pregnancy After Loss Support, a wonderful, caring group of women who have helped me when I needed it most. Since that time, they have been re-printed in many bereaved parents' newsletters and infants' memorial web sites.
One of my poems, "A Different Child", will be officially published in the introduction to Ann Douglas' upcoming book, due out in September 2000, entitled, "TRYING AGAIN: A GUIDE TO PREGNANCY AFTER MISCARRIAGE, STILLBIRTH, AND INFANT LOSS." Ann and I got to know each other well on the SPALS mailing list in 1997. I was one of the parents interviewed for this book, as well as her other recent title, "The Mother of All Pregnancy Books". This new book is important to both of us, as a way we can help other mothers who are going through this very difficult situation. Please look for it soon in your local bookstores.
If You Didn't Know
For My Sweet Myrna
Till She Died
Where The Shadows Are
The Phoenix
O Sweet Child Of Mine
Where You Rest
She Never Saw Spring
A Different Child
Just A Dress *NEW*
Full Moon Friday
Toddler Girl
Why I Want You To
Call Me Mama
The Broken
Cradle
Another baby helps...but not the
way you might think
Madoka's Birth Announcement
A Birthday Message
to my Special Angel
The quote in 3 of the 4 fortune cookies was taken from this:
"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing."
- Keats, Endymion
Since I write fan fiction about a character named Endymion, imagine how odd I felt when I realized where the reference was taken from! My thanks to John Hitchens for finding the source of that quote.
Yes, Rhiannon, you will be a "thing of beauty" for your mother, father and older sister, the three of us who shared your life, forever. As for the last of the four fortune cookies, "Humility is a sign of greatness," this seems to be a universal concept, appearing in ancient Chinese teachings and as part of the Torah, amongst other places. On the day we lost Rhiannon, we felt humbled, in many ways. We were humbled by all the many people who came to little Rhiannon's funeral, everyone who worked with both of us in the big government offices, most of the teachers at Myrna's school, and even people we did business with--they all cared, truly a "sign of greatness."
Today, we are still humbled to have shared your short life, for you brought joy and love to everyone whose lives you have touched, in life, and now, in memory. If my words, likewise, can bring joy, hope or comfort to others, it is in this way that I continue to honour the legacy of Rhiannon Roxane. Let your memory be a living one, a sharing of the love you gave, and not a cold piece of stone.
