Friday, August 6, 2010

Unfulfilled, Katrina

Unfulfilled
By Katrina
In Memory of Dylan Gabriel

My arms long to hold you
To rock you to your sleep
To bring you close to my heart
And comfort you while you weep

My eyes long to see you
To gaze upon your face
To stare into your perfect eyes
And witness God's good grace

My hands long for your tiny grasp
To let you hold onto me
To show me just how strong you are
And how strong I must be

My lips long to kiss you
To sing you many songs
To read you bedtime stories
And tell you nothing's wrong

My body aches from missing you
And my heart is incomplete
But one day we shall reunite
At Heaven's gate, we'll meet.

:::

about this poem.
Katrina describes her poem, "I wrote this poem around four months after Dylan's death and originally published it on my blog in October 2008. I felt like I was in a place where I just needed to write to take the edge off, thus the start of my blog. I posted, 'For me, it fills something in my heart that makes me excited and proud to be writing again. I'm saddened that my inspiration to return to writing was as a result of losing Dylan, but I'm honored to have that story to share. I'm humbled to have people read this.'"

about the poet.
Katrina talks about her journey, "At 20 weeks, Dylan was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome. Justin and I went through the entire pregnancy knowing that Dylan was going to need three major surgeries after birth. What we weren't prepared for was that Dylan would be born at 37 weeks on June 11, 2008, with a single (and failing) kidney and a laundry list of other birth defects. He was classified as a VACTERL baby, and the doctors were pessimistic about his chances of survival. He was too small for any kind of dialysis or transpant, and the failing kidney would make surviving multiple heart surgeries nearly impossible. We were advised to 'let nature take its course'. He spent his six days of life in the hospital, and we never left his side. His broken heart has broken ours forever."

Katrina blogs at In Dylan's Memory. Dylan has a younger sister named Faith Addyson.

3 comments:

  1. I love this. It's so beautiful, and yet it has such weight to it.

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  2. "My body aches from missing you."

    I never knew how physical grief could be. And yes, the 3-4 month mark was particularly brutal.

    I'm so sorry your Dylan isn't here. We suffered our losses around the same time. Glad to hear Faith made it here safely.
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful poem. It describe that physical ache so well.

    I'm so sorry for the loss of your son, Dylan.

    ReplyDelete

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