Merrijane was a favorite BYU roommate. She was talented then, now she wins big writing contests like Mormon LitzBlitz with this beautiful and poignant poem.
Stillborn
You were wanted,
not an accident.
Your first fluttering cells
set plans pulsing—
names, knitting, nursery colors,
universities.
Though two others came before,
I saved a part for you.
Sometimes a heart stops beating
and dreams bleed free
in a slow, red river
of barren pain.
No healing prayers,
no reasons sought,
none given.
Just one of those things.
But it wasn’t an accident.
You were wanted
elsewhere.
