Mourning A Child At Midnight Poem by Donal Mahoney

Some choose not to have children
others maybe one or two
three seems to be the max now

it's not like when Paul was young
and a family might have had six or more
the wife at home, the husband working.

Families were big back then.
Now families are considered big
when a couple has more than three.

Years ago Paul and Faye had five
but after she took that midnight call
and learned they had lost a daughter

Faye cried for awhile and then
hugged Paul and whispered
why didn't we have seven.