The Wholly Innocent, by Bruce Dawes

I never walked abroad in air
I never saw the sky
Nor knew the sovereign touch of care
Nor looked into an eye.

I never chose, nor gave consent
Nor voted on my fate
Unseen, I came, unseen I went
Too early and too late

This was my life-line trust
As absolute as blood
Now down in the bucket thrust
Anonymous as mud

Oh you within whose God-like power
Lies to so decide
Remember me when, some late hour
Talks turn to genocide

For I was part of that doomed race
Whose death-cell was the womb
But who can clear a bloody space
And call it living room

I never had a name or cried
That central cry "I am"
But in a world-wide shambles died
Defenceless as a lamb

Remember me next time you
Rejoice at sun or star
I would have loved to see them too
I never got that far.