A Mother's Grief Poem by Jean Mallette

My little one, I called you home,
But you decided you would roam,
To walk the edge of precipices,
Reach down in holes of cockatrices,
To risk all that is dear to me-
Your flesh and soul, eternally.
And like the Lord Who loves us all,
It hurt so much to see you fall.
Like God, it left my heart so grieved
To see you o'er and o'er deceived.
I will not say, 'I told you so, '
As now your punishment you know.
I will not mock the chains you wear
Nor hurl insults, for I still care.
Like Christ, I weep to see you there,
Confined by justice to despair,
But I will pray your pain is short
And you'll take Christ into your heart.