Every. Child.

 

 

I have buried a child. 

 

My heart has been a home to sorrow. 

Echoes of silence abide there still. But 

there are things I did not, 

could not 

and will not

ever know.

 

I have buried a child.

 

My child was not stolen from me.

My child was not forced into the 

unfamiliar, nor made to feel:

Unsafe.

Unloved.

Unacceptable.

 

I have buried a child.

 

And it is true that I know grief

That I am acquainted with loss

But I know nothing of the pain of:

Injustice

Indifference

Inhumanity.

 

I have buried a child.

 

My child's grave is marked

I can kneel with memories and tears,

knowing every effort was made on her behalf.

She was not:

Dishonoured

Disregarded

Discarded

 

I have buried a child

 

And if there is one thing I know

One thing I believe

It is this:

Every child matters.

Every. Child.

 

- Valerie Sherrard