On a night in January

A child is born at last

And half a mother's fears

Lie dying in the past

And half a mother's fears

In her arms are newly born.

Mid-day in February

A baby breathes his last

And half a mother's hopes

Lie scattered as the ash

And half a mother's tears

Will never come to pass.

One morning in March

A baby comes to life

A father grins and grieves the same

The happiness, the strife

A father grins and grieves the name

Of struggle come to life.

Lunchtime now in April

A child begins to crawl

Her parents cheer and hide their fear

Knowing one day she must fall

Her parents cheer and hide their tears

Hoping one day she'll stand tall.

Suppertime in May

A baby fights for breath

A mother cries, a father tries

To barter life for death

A mother tries, a father cries

To fight fear's blackest depth.

Twilight in the Summer

Turns Midnight in the Fall

And parents cheer and fear and grieve

The mystery of it all

And parents cheer and fear and grieve

That their child was born at all.

For fear grows ever stronger

And faith grows hard to find

Hope's eternal spring a trickle

And death isn't far behind.

Dusk in late December

With a cry, the night is torn

A real mother and a foster dad

Weep as a veil is rent and shorn

A real mother and a foster dad

Now seeing what has long been sworn

The death of fear they now adorn

The dark of doubt now lies forlorn

The dam that held back hope, unmourned

As the death of death has now been born.

In hay, with cattle, and wholly scorned

The death of fear and death is born.