First Embrace

His eyes were kind and warm
His spirit as gentle as his hands
A promise made the day he was born
To do all that his job would demand
Keeping him well as he should
Watching him grow year to year
Entrusting his life as he would
And offering his brothers to bear
Filling their charts with his notes
That told of their health and growth
But hidden from all that he wrote
Was the seed he had long since sowed
Hearing their tiny hearts as they beat
Breaking their mother’s so that she would weep
Not counting on his sudden departure
That took him away all too soon
It is not the time for us to see this juncture
What of the visits that will not take place in those rooms
And the one where they have grown to be teens
Where he would remember them once so small
The memories will be there in between
Ever since they ran noisily up and down the halls
Though the pain of his loss will diminish over time
I will always be proud that my sons’ pediatrican, he was mine

10.12.08