To the Sibling I Never Met

ANNA DELAMERCED

4 weeks was all it took

For your heart to beat

For me to fall in love with you

Never having even seen your eyes

I imagine them chocolate brown like mine

We called you by a name we came up with

Your older brother and I

We were just too excited

Couldn’t wait for you to come play with us outside

Could you hear us laugh and sing

Songs we made up to pass the time

Could you hear us wonder at the thought

Of you living in Mama’s belly

I would rub it with my hands and my face

Thinking, hoping you’d get a kick out of it

Before I even met you

I loved you

But I was old enough to know that

Life and hope go hand in hand with sorrow

You didn’t make it, Mama said

We won’t ever know your birthday

But here I am, 18 years later, still thinking of you

This poem is dedicated to my siblings.