Maggie

Maggie

Surrounded by the colour grey, in walls and floor and seat,
She sat so still, the sad young girl, with tears upon her cheek.
Within her arms a precious load, a tiny piece of her,
She bends her head and lays a kiss, to wipe away a tear.

Her daughter mews, she holds her close, and wonders what to do.
They’re coming soon, it’s not long now, oh how she loves her true.
Her heart is crying out so loud and her mind is screaming,
She wishes she could just wake up and find she’s only dreaming.

Suddenly she feels a draft, then footsteps fast approaching,
Her arms hold tight her precious load, but fate, it is encroaching.
Her head lifts up and her eyes see, the monsters come to kill,
She knows too well what must come next, though it’s against her will.

Before her stood her enemies, those creatures sent from hell,
To wrest from her her precious load, to break her heart as well.
“Come now my dear, let it be done, you know it’s for the best”
Then reaching out they take the babe, they snatch her from her breast.

The social workers walk away, the young girl stands, forlorn,
She doesn’t cry, she doesn’t speak, all feeling now has gone.
A numbness comes to kill the pain, the breaking of her heart,
The knowing that her baby’s gone, now they must live apart.

The years pass by, time heals the pain, but oh, so very slow,
Marriage comes, then children too, she watches as they grow.
But part of her is empty still, missing, wondering too,
‘Is she happy?’ ‘Is she healthy?’ But what is she to do?

Each year she marks the birthday, of this lost child of hers,
And wonders if she thinks of her, with the passing of the years.
Her other children know of her, and they do wonder too,
They want to know their sister, but what is there to do?

Many years pass swiftly by, it’s twenty five and more
Memory dims but never dies, of this she is so sure
Her other children marry now, have children on the way
And still our friend remembers well, the pain she felt that day.

And then, one day, a quiet day, at the ending of the year,
The phone, it rings, she answers it, she hears a voice, so clear.
A female voice, who speaks the name that once belonged to her
And then she says another name, the one that haunted all the years.

Her blood runs icy in her veins, her legs begin to shake,
Her heart is pounding, mouth gone dry, whole body starts to quake.
Her mind cries out, ‘at last, at last,’ and tears and laughter flow,
And words come fast for there is much she wants so much to know.

For the person on the phone to her, who speaks the names from long ago
Is the woman who for many years has loved her daughter so.
Loved her so much that, just for her, she’s searched, and found, our friend.
But wait awhile, all is not told, ‘tis not the story’s end.

Now mother speaks to mother, about their common child
And all the while they speak of her, our friend just smiles and smiles.
Plans are made, arrangements set, and soon the day will come,
Our friend will meet her long lost child, she’ll welcome her back home.

And so it dawns, that special day, it does arrive at last,
And suddenly it seems to her, the years have flown so fast.
Five minutes now it seems to her, since last her child she saw.
So much she hopes today will bring an end to pain and more.

And so her daughter comes, and smiles, the years just disappear,
Once more the mother holds the child, nothing more to fear,
They laugh and cry, they talk and talk, then they cry some more
So much to learn and to compare, two lives to be explored.