Eight Minutes

In eight minutes
It will be 8 weeks
Since they told us
Our little curly headed boy
Would not be OK
He would not be coming home
His body would not mend, now or eventually
We’d go home with a beautiful box and a few lockets of hair
Some extremely lame consolation prize but,
No little 5 year and 11 month old boy full of life
Instead we’d get to call family and friends with the bad news
And make arrangements
And decide whether or not to donate his eyes
To some other little person
Who would go home with happy parents

*****

June 26, 2002
copyright 2002 Elene Bratton