Poem

This poem was sent to me by Krista who had this in her journal as she was going through the adoption process

Her Heart Raced

I know your heart raced
the day you knew you were carrying a new life.
Fleeting excitement,
drowned by dry fear;
that gripped your insides,
weakened by hunger.
You resolved to be different.
You wouldn't be like the rest,
Starving.Somehow you would survive.
I know your heart racedeach passing day,
no longer concerned for yourselfand your own pain.
Your tired body barely endured pregnancy.
You caressed your ever extending belly;
feeling him flutter beneathyour thin skin.
Small and fragile,desperately you clung to the crumbs
of a quickly fading hope.
I know your heart raced
The day he began his journey through you.
The labor of his birth,
paled by bleak visions of the futureand the longer,
silent pain of hunger.
I know your heart raced
the moment you kissed his sweet face.
His over sized eyes stared up at you with innocent trust.
You saw his fathers eyes,
and your mouth.
You felt his heart race,
close to yours.
Together they pounded out a single beat as you held him to your bare,
dry breast and prayed that God would end the drought.
You began to doubt he would survive.
I know your heart racedevery time he cried.
Every wakeful moment etched in the dark.
This child was not plagued by simple monsters.
You alone stood that faithful vigil,
helpless in the battle againstfamine;
the demon ,
grew larger each day,
swelling within his tiny belly.
I know, sweet mother your heart raced
the day you resolved to leave him there.
Those frightening steps that led to good-byforever.
A living nightmare no mother should ever have to face.
I know your heart raced as you ran from him,
hot tears streamed down your face.
His inheritance?A question mark and a little faith.
Do you know my heart raced too?
The moment I knew he was mine.
The moment they gave me his name.
The moment I saw his scared face,
captured forever beneath that first photo;
one of the million bewildered and orphaned.
Do you know my heart raced?
The day his father stepped off the plane and onto
American soil.
Your child's destiny cuddled within the
strong arms of his daddy.
Our dear son wrapped in red, white and blue.

Written by: Kim Bruyns
Adoptive mother