Poem for Max         (Written the day after he was stillborn)     My Child   My beautiful precious child   Torn from me so suddenly   along with my heart   My arms ache in their emptiness   My breasts are filled with your milk   but you're gone.   Will I ever find solace?   Will the clutches of this agony ever let me breathe?   We shared such intimate space together   always reminding me of the wonder of life         How can it be that suddenly there is nothing but death?   Your face is forever burned in my memory   the bittersweet moment of your birth   Now I must face your empty crib                 How will I pass the days and nights that were meant for you?               I know you're in a better place but in my selfishness,     I can't accept your absence when your sweet presence would have made  this world a better place.   By Maria Tapie   for Max (sb 12/18/97)