The pain was largely gone

The pain was largely gone:

Just a few echoes

Like aftershocks

From a cataclysm.

I held him;

Watching each breath;

The miniscule rise and fall

Of his tiny chest,

Treasuring his tentative hold

On breasts awaiting milk.

And I marvelled

At the risk

Of the Creator:

Vulnerable God

In fragile flesh:

My world

Will never be the same.

His breath

Gentle on my cheek;

Like the movement

Of the Spirit on the waters:

Vulnerable God

In fragile flesh:

His world

Will never be the same.

Poem by Jeannie Kendall, reproduced with permission