Heartbeat

For all the babies whose lives have been ended prematurely by the choice of their parents.

Unwanted they come, unwanted they go,

Their tiny heartbeats are not treasured

Nor their precious lives cherished; no

Instead they are seen as a problem

That needs to be destroyed, although

The heart of God is forever breaking

They grow in a dark and unseen place

That is meant to be safe, but instead

Is a hole of coming pain and un-grace.

Unloved, they leave the leave the world with hardly

A catch of light nor a glimpse of another’s face,

Their cries unheard and their tears unseen.

The ending of their heart’s tiny beat

Is accepted and justified as right by many,

Who feel not the fear nor the complete

Pain of the unseen ones who suffer in silence,

Their heartbeats ignored and their lives discreet

By the choice of those who carry them.

In this world, there is no resting place; none

At all for those who shall never have

The chance to live, laugh nor run

Nor to love, sing, speak or behold beauty,

But shall pass on as an unwanted one,

Their hearts stopped before their lungs’ first breath.

There is One who loves them still,

Whose heart is breaking in two over each stilled life.

He shall gather them to His Kingdom’s hill,

And cherish and love and delight in them there;

With all of His Fatherly heart, He will

Protect each heartbeat that others had cast aside.