"I am not there"
by Anon

Do not stand at my grave and weep;   
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle Autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

"Miscarried" 
by Vanessa Davies

Mum I was not yours to keep
But children never are
My life and death have touched others
And changed you
In ways you cannot completely
Know or understand.
Ripples in the pool spreading,
My life and death
Will enrich your life.
Pain and loss are not my only legacy.

Weep, for I am worth every tear
Each worth more than gold.
A gift of love from you to me
And many die
With no-one to weep for them.
But do not weep for my sake.

Know and remember - 
I never once was touched by fear
I never was afraid
I never felt the cold, not once,
Nor hunger's pains 
And never, never was alone
You were with me always.

You gave me a chance to be
And now that I have a spirit and a soul that
Never can be lost.

To you my days were few
To me a lifetime.
A week to a child is a month or more
To me the days were long
With all my needs supplied by you
Till time came to move on
To better things.
Leaving you to pay the higher price.
Living is sometimes harder than dying.

So weep, and heal yourself
You will never be the same
Allow my life to touch your heart
And you will grow.
Learn from me that life is precious
And today is all we have.
Learn to love others
Today not tomorrow.
Maybe tomorrow they are gone
Or we are gone.

Learn this and my life has had
Purpose and my death, meaning.

We are parted for a little while
But I am with my creator
Who loves us better
Than we love each other.

"You Were A Part of Me" 
by Marlene Cocchetto

I have no way of knowing who you'd have turned our to be.
One thing I know for certain, you were a part of me.

If you had been a little girl, would you have had my eyes?
I'll bet you now have angel's wings and dance across the skies.

Perhaps you were a little boy with your father's turned-up chin.
Are you now an angel's sidekick riding with the wind?

I never got to purchase blankets of pink or blue;
Nor bottles, pins or diapers. No name was picked for you.

I wish I could have held you and felt that you were real.
There's an ache deep within me I never dreamed I'd feel.

God must have had a reason for taking you that day.
Just knowing you are with Him helps ease the pain some way.

So when I see a newborn child or an expectant mother-to-be
I cast my gaze toward heaven and smile - knowing...

You were a part of me.

"The Cord"
By Author Unknown

We are connected,
My child and I,
By an invisible cord
Not seen by the eye.
It's not like the cord
That connects us 'til birth.
This cord can't be seen
By anyone on earth.
This cord does it's work
Right from the start.
It bonds us together
Attached at the heart.
I know that's it's there
Though no one can see
The invisible cord
From my child to me.
The strength of this cord
It's hard to describe
It can't be destroyed.
It can't be denied.
It's stronger than any cord
Man could create.
It withstands the test
Can hold any weight
And though you are gone,
Though you're not here with me,
The cord is still there.
But no one can see
It pulls at my heart
I am bruised....I am sore.
But this cord is my lifeline
As never before.
I am thankful that God
Connects us this way.
A mother and a child
Death can't take it away!

"A Tiny Hand"
by Denise Hanstad

A tiny hand we'll never hold, a child without a name;
Your coos and giggles won't touch our ears,
but we love you just the same.
The twinkle in you eyes, was not for us to see;
we longed to hold you in our arms,
but it never came to be.
God now holds your tiny hand,
He's given you a name,
your coos and giggles grace Heaven's ears,
but we'll miss you just the same.
The twinkle in you little eyes now light the sky at night.
God holds you close in loving arms,
you're always in His sight.
A tiny hand we'll never hold,
we have no reason why,
but we'll always hold you in our hearts,
even though we said goodbye.

"SO YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND?"
by Author Unknown

You say to me, "It's been a year,
when will your grieving end?"
"Why can't you be like you once were,
my smiling happy friend?"

If you really want an answer,
though, I wonder if you do,
I'll take you deep inside me,
where sadness dims the view.

First, my "friend", for your sake,
come close and take my hand,
And we will pray that what I share,
you won't have to understand.

The me you once knew is no more,
it died with my child,
A voice was stilled forever, yet,
the echo drives me wild.

You say you lost Aunt Bertha,
so you have known death too,
Aunt Bertha, however, was not your child,
and she was eighty, not twenty-two

I barely survived those first months,
coping was a dreadful task,
I'd tell you I was fine,
while sobbing behind my mask.

If I talked about my precious child,
you turned away in fear,

You couldn't stand to see me cry,
nor would you share my tears.

I wanted to speak of him, please,
won't you say his name?
But, you pretend he never was,
so he died over and over again.

Oh, I see that you're uncomfortable,
you no longer want my hand,
so as it was before we talked, my "friend",
you don't want to understand!

Someone left a message for me in my guestbook and asked me to contact him about one of his poems that he'd written after his wife had lost their first child to miscarriage.  Paul has very kindly allowed me to share his poem with you... it's copyrighted to Paul Fauth - please don't copy or remove it from here without his permission.  Thank you.

My First Child

I never got to tell you this
Or see your little face
Couldn't hold you in my arms
Or feel your small embrace

I'll never know just what I lost
The doctor couldn't tell
All I know the grief I felt
Was the closest I've been to hell

Since then you've gained a sister
Lifting this dark and angry curse
Although I love her more then life
You'll always be my first

By Paul Fauth