Two Hearts

There were two hearts in the delivery room The first had not been anticipated And though the other was not hated It would die better in my womb Their outcries were against my ignorance The harshness of it deafened my ears And though I recognised their nightly fears I turned away for the sake of innocence

The first died on a glacial autumn night Gone forever, after a gory fight One had survived since the delivery room After an entreaty to be wary The other had gone to the mortuary To always live, with the first, in a tomb