Within you was a burning need
I could not satisfy.
My broken seed would not allow
The joining of our essence.

So we turned to science
To find a way to mimic
Or bypass natures tools,
And give us new life.

High with hopes and full of love
We learned of methods used.
Of ova, sperm and embryo,
Of ultrasound and drugs.

But soon reality crushed us.
There was no excitement here.
Instead of flesh and pleasure
There was cold hard steel and pain.

I can't erase the etching
Scraped into my mind,
Of the needles given to you,
Some driven by my hand.

Your tears of pain were echoed
In every part of me.
Each stab a mortal wound
To our unity once strong.

The spark was then rekindled
When under the microscope
We saw groups of cells,
Clumped together,
Fusions of you and I.

An agonizing wait,
A nervous phone call made.
Soaring hope came crashing down.
Those tiny threads of life were no more,
Lost,
Gone.

Emptiness invaded us
Shattering dreams of if.
Grief pervading every breath
Despite the briefness of that flicker.

We mourned the passing
Of those tiny lives made of us,
Then buried the remains
Of all that once was 'we'.

Your need remains unfulfilled.
My guilt is justified.