“What is The Name Of This Child?”
We lost a child this week,
We people of this world that is;
Some nameless child to most of us,
But not to you, O Father.I heard of him or her,
In course of work on house that is;
This child was sick and could not breathe –
Deep loss to stand-in parents.It might have passed unseen,
To me who worked two weeks that is;
Except I gave my bit for this
Child now who can’t receive it.So gift floats in the air,
The gift of work for them that is.
Too late it came to help this child
And now it can’t be given.Why does this bother me,
Gift given not received that is?
There’s plenty more who need the help –
Too many to remember.I think the given gift,
This one that’s not received that is,
Brings soundly home to me this day
The callousness of my heart.I’ve never seen these kids,
The ones they’ve taken in that is,
Yet somehow in two weeks they found
Their way into my being.I used to ask the name,
Of child I was to bless that is;
I thought it not to mix them up
But now I feel it different.These nameless of the world,
Who live and die unknown that is,
In utter namelessness do life,
Except to you, our Father –Some ‘taboo babies’ are,
These children of incest that is;
And some just cost too much to feed –
Discarded in the river.We do the same of course,
As we abort our kids that is;
We just define them as a lump
Of flesh like cells of mother.It’s said we cannot kill,
A human like ourselves that is;
So first we must define them out
Then kill a different label.Now as I bless a child
Each Sabbath eve, our own that is;
And those whose lives we touch –
The names of each now matter.What can I do from here
On now this child is gone that is?
I cannot do it all of course –
Find, then this name – preserve it?Somehow keep fresh this name,
Lest I forget this child that is;
Then in my life make more attempt
To give in time for getting.Perhaps within a book,
I could present this child that is;
So others of this world can feel
This gift of life amongst us.navigation