On Visiting a Child's Gravesite...

Last week one day at the Osher Institute I showed the following picture and told of visiting the grave of the child born to a couple passing through the little town of Almont, ND. They had no money to buy a stone but left their only object of wealth, a china cup and saucer. I was asked if I had written a poem about the scene, and answered, "No, I had not." After I arrived back home I asked myself why I had not and started writing, this poem being the result.

Mother's tears filled the cup,
father stood sadly near.
With heads bowed, they said good-bye
to the day-old child she bore.
If the poet could only speak
he would say, Rest assured,
all is well
at your infant's grave.
I walked the ground
and heard the birds
singing from the trees.
I felt the breeze
blow through my hair,
saw the flowers wave,
and watched the cows graze
on the grass in a field across the way.
You had no money for a stone,
so you gave the wealth you had
and left your cup and saucer
to mark his lasting home.
It's being cared for by the folks
who come out from the town.
So rest assured, they're tending it
just as if it were their own.