by Dave Schultz
The Dream
I dreamed of a land where mothers kill their own children,
dispose of them quickly without guilt or remembrance:
as if that which is unseen cannot be beautiful,
as if those who are unnamed deserve no loyalty,
as if they who are smallest should have no chance to grow,
as though we have no duty to keep our weak ones safe.
In my dream I read slogans, like “Legal, rare and safe.”
Safe, they mean, for women, but not for unborn children.
Rare, they say, while by the millions the piles of corpses grow.
Legal, if God and nature are swept from remembrance.
They marched for “Choice”, “Liberation” had their loyalty...
yet each step trampled out a life truly beautiful.
Some were vain, not knowing motherhood is beautiful.
Some were doctors too lazy to keep both patients safe.
Some were fawning men, with unquestioning loyalty.
Some were selfish, not wanting the burden of children.
Some were young, whose fear blocked their child’s form from remembrance.
Most were ignorant, not having seen a baby grow.
The worst were altruists: “It’s not right to let them grow
up in poverty,”--as if the rich and beautiful
alone enjoy life. Their banners haunt my remembrance:
“Every child a wanted child”--a mere excuse it’s safe
to say, since God already wants us, loves all children,
and cares for all His creatures with grace and loyalty.
My dream-plague filled the land, destroyed family loyalty;
undermined the sanctity of life; made most hearts grow
cold; gave women power by diminishing children--
cheapening to a choice who once were a beautiful
blessing. What becomes of dignity, when none are safe?
When luck alone lets us live, see light, and find remembrance?
A still more gruesome image troubles my remembrance...
A babe in the womb, trusting its mother’s loyalty,
needing to be loved back, to be nourished and kept safe;
All its features are complete, needing only to grow.
Sudden strikes the knife-bright blade, to sever beautiful
limbs. Waking with shocked tears, I embraced my own children.
Let these aborted children be held in remembrance.
Show them this loyalty: keep your own little ones safe.
They are beautiful, even before God makes them grow.
