Requiem for Robert

Requiem for Robert was written by Dr. George A. Hays after the loss of his newborn  on March 2, 1963. Dr. Hays was very active in his community, charitable work  and even completed mission work in Guatemala.  George passed away in 1989.

After 31 years of teaching, the Kingsburg Elementary School’s library was named after Mrs. Hays, the Carolyn Hinton Hays Media Center. Mrs. Hays currently resides in Memphis, TN and allowed Share to publish the following several decades after the death of their son.

Little one, so sweet in sleep

Rest, though mother’s arms

Entwine you not.

Yours was a life so brief,

Its silver whiteness, like a lightning flash

Across an ocean’s sweep

Was a blaze of purity

In a worldly storm.

Poor weary traveler! The light

That still remains upon your face

There in death, is like the echo

Of palest moonlight, cool and gentle.

Like a little doll you wait

The tender warmth of an embrace,

The sunshine of a mother’s face!

Wait you there in peace, beloved son.

Our cries are but the antiphon

Of love, The song of eventide

That broke upon the dawn of your short life

Now mocks us while we grieve.

The candle’s snuffed, but one wee ember

Glows afar. Oh, Cherub, our love

Must warm you through an endless night.

Our eyes are fixed upon a tiny light

From yonder star!

Creative Healing Poetry

This poem was written for Clara Jane McLaughlin by her mother Adrienne. Clara, the daughter of Daniel and Adrienne McLaughlin and sister of Devin, age 4, was born full-term on October 31, 2001 and died from perinatal asphyxia. 

I’ve talked to you so much about your father and your mother, 

But one I haven’t mentioned much is your dear and sweet brother.

Devin is four and he wanted you so much,

He waited so patiently to hold you in his clutch.

He used to say proudly that he’d soon be a brother,

And he promised you often that he’d share with you his mother.

When my labor began I gave him a hug,

And told him when I saw him next he’d have a baby he could love.

When we knew you wouldn’t live we decided he should see you,

It was the right choice, I know, because now he can grieve too.

When he finally came in, you were hooked up to tubes,

He was excited to meet you and at first seemed amused.

He smiled and he touched you and he didn’t yet understand,

That the baby he was finally holding would never walk or stand.

He handled it better than I would have imagined,

And now he often talks about his sister in Heaven.

He asks me why you left us on that Halloween day,

And I explain what I can in a childlike way.

He speaks of you often and says he’ll always be your brother,

And when he seems me crying, he tells me, “Don’t worry Mom, you’ll always be her mother.”