LOIS GREENE STONE - JULIA

​Lois Greene Stone, writer and poet, has been syndicated worldwide. Poetry and personal essays have been included in hard & softcover book anthologies.  Collections of her personal items/ photos/ memorabilia are in major museums including twelve different divisions of The Smithsonian.  The Smithsonian selected her photo to represent all teens from a specific decade.

Julia
​

​Two-plus pounds.
Eleven weeks premature.
If survives: possible
cerebral palsy, other
shortcomings?  Intensive
care is for old not
newborns!  So many
tubes.  Phone calls:                            
quickly get to hospital.
Quiet prayers.  Unspoken
thoughts.  Hand-holding.
Life, death, life, death
tick-tocked in our heads.
 
Twenty-one now;
pre-med studies state
her high intelligence.
Spared serious effects
of birth before term,
only her underarm
scars from feeding
tubes are reminders of
a miracle.