Laura's Story

She sat alone on the cold hard bench,
confused, filled with guilt and dismayed;
and she thought back with sadness and deep regret
while in the distance children played.

Their screams and laughter were painful reminders
as she listened with tears in her eyes,
and cursed the day she decided to act
knowing now all her excuses were lies.

Her sorrow today had its birth years ago
unlike the life that might have been;
now she looks back with sadness without hope for the future,
fighting a battle she just can’t win.

"Was it a girl," she never bothered to ask
"with big bright eyes and a little pug nose?"
But questions like this will never be answered,
because on that day she didn’t care, she chose.

And what if it was a bouncing boy
with an infectious smile and curly hair,
but at the time she thought this unimportant -
now there’s only emptiness and despair.

Now she sits there alone under bright blue skies
and feels the gentle touch of the summer breeze,
that sounded like the cries of an innocent child
as it wafts through the towering trees.

The sky suddenly began to darken,
gray clouds assembled above;
all became quiet, the sounds of children faded,
she asked herself, "Where was the love?"

What might have been, had she embraced new life
and accepted her role as a mother that day?
She might now be watching her son or daughter
running, jumping, and laughing at play.

Doctor, teacher, scholar, inventor -
what would life have held in store
for a son or daughter whose mother said "no"?
Her decision back then closed that door.

This was just another reminder
of when she was young years ago;
now regret fills her mind, sorrow her heart
because now she will never know.

And where was the father on that day?
Did he say, "Don’t do this," to the expectant mother,
or was he too selfish, heartless, and immature,
and cared not one way or another?

That day she was not alone when it happened,
she had confided in her dearest friend
who tried to explain there’s another way,
but words did not change things in the end.

Now she bows her head and asks for forgiveness,
but the thought of an unforgiving God only adds to her fears,
and with the sound of thunder, and a harsh rain falling,
so too do her heartfelt tears.

On the way home, she visited a church;
she had turned away from her faith years ago,
it was quiet and serene as she knelt down to pray,
hoping someone would hear, but she could not know.

After some time, as she was about to leave,
a voice spoke from somewhere behind;
it was a priest, he was smiling and asked her, "can I help?"
She said, "Father, if you don’t mind."

"Of course not," he said; they sat down in a pew,
she said, "Father, I’ve committed a grave wrong,"
and told of the sin she committed;
he said to have faith and try to be strong.
 
She confessed and asked for forgiveness,
if there was any forgiveness to impart.
Father said, "you were forgiven when you knew you did wrong.
The Lord knows what’s in your heart."
 

EPILOGUE
Innocent and pure without blemish or sin,
yet they stood not a chance to show us their worth,
their lives were ended before they began,
at the moment of conception, or just before birth.

Millions were lost in the battle for life,
there was no victor, or spoils of war,
no sympathy, no love, and a deadly outcome,
and the enemy cared not, rich or poor.

What could they have offered, and what contributions,
but they were victims before they were born,
there’d be no eulogies, no tears or concern,
and no one would be there to mourn.

Victims of opportunity or inconvenience,
as they slept inside their mother’s womb,
and in a moment their innocent life was ended,
as they lay peacefully in what became their tomb.