A Father’s Pain

During Megan’s illness, death, and the time following, poetry became my emotional outlet. The death of child causes such a deep pain that it cannot accurately be put into words. My poetry is an attempt to express that pain. Each of us has our own pain, and it is my prayer that for those of you who read these poems may understand that it is ok to hurt, to be angry, or to even ask why.

The following quote by Douglas Gresham in the introduction of a C. S. Lewis book entitled “A Grief Observed” may say it best.

“This book is a man emotionally naked in his own Gethsemane. It tells of the agony and the emptiness of a grief such as few of us have to bear, for the greater the love the greater the grief, and the stronger the faith the more savagely will Satan storm its fortress.”

These poems are a glimpse into journey through Megan’s final days and the time following her death from my point of view. As you read the poems, it is my hope that in some small way you sense the pain that I felt and still feel. When reading the poems, I also hope that you can sense my faith in my savior, Jesus Christ, without whom there would be no hope. May we all remember that God is good, even in life’s darkest times.

Mike Hoogeveen
~Megan’s dad~