Infants Remembered In Silence (IRIS) - Poems

Wake Up

Tracy Buford

In loving memory of Jaylon Mekhi Walker

Wake up little Jaylon
I need to see your eyes
I need for you to see me
I need to hear your cries

I knew something was wrong
As I lay in bed last night
You didn’t move a bit
And I know that wasn’t right

I quickly called my doctor
In hopes that you were fine
But the news that she relayed to me
Literally blew my mind

She said that you were not moving
And, in fact, she feared the worst
But before she could make
that assumption
She’d get another doctor first

My heart was pounding loudly
And then the beating ceased
For the doctor told me, solemnly
‘‘I’m sorry, your baby’s deceased.”

He said you had stopped living
And at that very moment I cried
You actually had slipped away
Friday, December 5

I immediately left for the hospital
So I could be induced
Help my body to deliver
So you could be produced

I can’t recall the procedure
I just remember the end
The nurse saying it’s over
When in fact
It was about to begin
They thought it to be conducive
For me to hold you in my arms
Have my time to bond with you
To keep you safe from harm

I know you heard me say,
“I Love You!”
Even though you could not breathe
I take comfort that you felt it
And in that I must believe

As the time did pass
I have to go
Even though I could hold you forever
I knew it wouldn’t be so

I take comfort in the knowledge
That for you there is no pain
That in time we’ll meet once more
And I’ll hold you yet again

Written in loving memory of Jaylon Mekhi Walker, born still December 6, 2003, by her mother, Tracy Buford

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