Ode To Sean

by Daniel Ortiz

in loving memory of
Sean Thomas Mcdonald
Born December 29, 1992
Died April 13, 1993

A couple of days after my second son died of SIDS, I awoke in the middle of the night. Lines of verse were running through my mind, coming from some unknown place. The following is the poem I wrote that night. It gave me great strength, maybe it can do the same for someone else.

Taken away...
    with the absence of breath
he left our world
    and entered the next.
But when he arrived
    he was not alone,
my mother was waiting
    his beauty to behold.
He may have gone on
    to a much better place,
but he left here behind
    such an empty space.
Such are God's actions
    we'll never understand
but our son now lives free
    in the true promised land.

We waste our lives worried
    about such petty things
that we never enjoy
    all the true joys life brings.
His laughter and smile
    I hold in my heart,
where his spirit and mine
    are never far apart.
It's true that in life
    you reap what you sow;
the real pain is in living
    and not letting go.
So remember as you wake
    to face each new day
Let Go - Let God,
    It's the easiest way.

Return to First Person Page