Unimaginable.

Your tiny form was perfect as I saw you

naked with your umbilical cord wrapped

around both your neck and left arm twice.

She didn’t let me hold you.

She didn’t even find one scrap of cloth

to wrap you in.

She coldly dug a hole in the ground next

to George, your step-granddad.

She showed me your earthly body, in her

hand, unclothed.

She took your umbilical cord and unwrapped

it from your left arm, then your neck.

She traumatized me yet again, and she had

a helper, Elizabeth, who made sure I couldn’t

get away from her actions.

She wrapped your cord around your neck twice,

then left arm twice.

She placed you naked in a shoebox, no baby

blanket or scrap of cloth.

She laid the shoebox into the shallow hole

she’d dug.

I tried to go in with you, Elizabeth held me

back.

Mama will never forget you!

I love you more!

Mom