Fay Clayton - Ballad of the Unborn

Was introduced to this poem by the thesis (draft) of one of our students, Ayan Ghosh, this evening. The poem by Fay Clayton attempts to sum up the feelings of a baby who was severed from life before her eyes could see the world. Worth reading and pondering over. Just was thinking how grateful we are for life, a gift of God...

My shining feet will never run
On early morning lawn;
My feet were crushed before they had
A chance to greet the dawn

My fingers will never stretch
To touch the winning tape;
My race was done before I learned
The smallest steps to take

My growing height will never be
Recorded on a wall;
My growth was stopped when I was still
Unseen and very small

My lips and tongue will never taste
The good fruits of the earth;
For I myself was judged to be
A fruit of little worth

My eyes will never scan the sky
For my high-flying kite;
For when still blind, destroyed were they
In the black womb of the night

I'll never stand upon a hill
Spring winds in my hair;
Aborted winds of thought closed in
On motherhood's despair

I'll never walk the shores of life
Or know the tides of time;
For I was coming but unloved,
And that my only crime

Nameless am I, a grain of sand
One of the countless dead,
But the deed that make me ashen grey
Floats on seas of red

by Fay Clayton, November 8th 1972

Source: Truthtv.Org