poem

Thirty-five years ago, when I finally arrived back in Australia after adopting a baby girl from an orphanage in post Communist Romania, my youngest brother, Kent Rickerby, happened to be visiting Australia from New Zealand, and wrote this poem. For thirty-five years, this beautifully written, heartfelt poem was filed away, unread, until a few weeks ago, Kent found it and sent a copy and I was able to share it with Loredana on her thirty-five Birthday.

Title; For You I Gladly Sing.

From afar you came,

New life to gain,

Caught up with joy,

Caught up with love,

From hopeless to hopeful,

From poverty to paradise,

Loredana Iona,

Truly a gift from God,

With deep, (DARK) brown eyes,

And rose cheeked smile,

Playing with joy in the garden of life,

Bringing happiness to all you meet,

You bring a smile to my lips,

And you bring a dance to my eyes,

When I hold you, a babe in arms,

I truly marvel at God’s abundance in beauty,

I wonder what can be given that God has not already given,

But more love,

And more joy,

And I thank God to have met you.

For you I gladly sing.

You are my child, with tousled hair

And fresh, scrubbed face, sleeping there.

Your well-loved toys around your head,

Your battered slippers on the bed.

I could creep out

Just leave a smile,

But perhaps I’ll sit here for a while.

I’ve kept you warm and fed and dry,

I’ve wiped the teardrop from your eye.

We’ve fought, we’ve laughed

Through bad through good,

But most, I hope, you’ve understood.

You gave me love, a hug, a smile.

Yes, perhaps I’ll sit here just a while.

Tomorrow, you will leave with Mum,

Uncertain whether harder times will come.

It’s not enough to love and feed,

For, deep down, it is Mum you need.

It’s harder now to raise a smile.

I’ll just sit here and watch you for a while.

There will be another when you have gone,

But, just like losing my unborn,

Each child’s a person, different, new,

So I will shed a tear or two.

It is good you are sleeping,

For I can’t smile.

I’ll just sit here and weep a while.

You are so loved, but you are not mine.

In a way, I am yours, so that’s just fine.

I chose to give you of my heart,

To share, to help and then to part.

So, though you’ll barely wave, I’ll bravely smile,

And continue to love you for a long, long, while.

Photo courtesy of annie-spratt; Unsplash

For You I Gladly Sing; My Brother’s Poem.

TO MY FOSTER CHILD; A Poem By Megan Simmonds