Night Whispers

A hundred years ago this story had its origin,
Before the people had access to modern medicine.
It was a time when people lived and died so quietly,
And often times the funeral was just the family.

No big event, no autopsy, no two or three day wake,
No buffet table at the house for all who could partake.
One day they viewed the body and then buried it real quick,
They knew a body in the home might make the others sick.

A little rural family back in nineteen twenty-one,
Had four daughters growing up and then they had a son.
At six months old the boy took sick, a fever raged for days,
The only hope the doctor said is "if your family prays."

Early the fourth morning as the family gathered round,
The baby never woke that day; he never made a sound.
With the words of the old doctor ringing in his head,
The father knew if this should happen then his son was dead.

As the tears began to flow with all the family grieving,
The father finally spoke and said we’ll bury him this evening.
We’ll keep him here with us all day so we can see his face,
And I’ll go dig a grave for him up in the family place.

The father’s heart was breaking for he knew what he must do,
He had to dig a little grave and build a casket too.
When the day had ended and the father’s tasks were done,
They took the baby to the plot before the setting sun.

They all stood by the grave and prayed dressed in their very best,
And then the father gently laid his little son to rest.
The father tried to read some scripture but broke down and cried,
For his family’s suffering pain and for his son who died.

That night the family went to bed still wrapped up in their grief,
Maybe sleep would help them find emotional relief.
That night the mother could not sleep no matter how she tried,
And in her ear she heard a voice "the baby is alive."

She woke her husband up for he had not been sleeping long,
And frantically she said to him "I know there’s something wrong."
He tried to comfort her but all she did was sit and weep,
He told her she was dreaming and should try to get some sleep.

As she lay there the tears would not stop flowing from her eyes,
And then again the whispering "the baby is alive."
She finally got up from her bed; It gave her such a fright,
And then her husband woke again when she turned on the light.

She was now in panic and her husband getting scared,
Watching her survey the room and acting really weird.
Her husband said "what’s wrong with you, you’re acting like a nut."
She screamed at him and said "you have to dig the baby up!"

"We have to go and get him because I know he’s not dead,"
And she would not calm down until he’d do what she had said.
He thought she must be losing it and she had gone insane,
And is convinced the baby lives from voices in her brain.

He really didn’t have a choice she had thrown such a fit,
He would go dig the baby up and let her look at it.
So in the dark with lantern lit, he dug with his wife sighing,
But when the shovel struck the wood the baby starting crying.

Frantically he grabbed the box and threw the lid aside,
And there before him lay his son very much alive.
Clinging to his baby as he stared up at his wife,
A coma made them bury him, but something saved his life.

Back at home the family wept their joy did overflow,
A miracle had just occurred, how did the mother know?
Sometimes we only view the world as being black and white,
And that is why sometimes the angels whisper in the night.

[ by James A. Kisner © 2002 (PoppyK1@aol.com) -- {used with permission} ]