"I baptize you in the name

of the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Ghost."

.

Your brand new body

lay in my arms, limp

like a rubber doll I had

when I was a child.

.

Your mother was

on the delivery table,

tears on her cheeks,

not believing her arms

will be empty

when she goes home.

.

Dear lady, if you still live,

I also remember after all

the decades, your request

for your son's baptism that night,

which I gladly gave solemnly.

I know you could hear

the running water, the words-

"I baptize you in the name

of the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Ghost."

spoken by a young girl

who wrapped your son

lovingly and carried him

to the morgue.

03/22/2006