In manuka scrub a tombstone cast in iron
a pointing finger accusing heaven.
The Wallace children lie below
youngest three, eldest eleven
seared by scarlet fever’s sunburn rash
day by autumn day they died.
All five in the month of May.
Nearby the Sutherland grave
fenced against cattle and goats.
A headstone newly placed
names and dates closely spaced
to fit a family’s tragedy
on one cold marble face.
Five children dead of diphtheria.
Fear of contagion infects the town
parents in quarantined houses make pyres
of toys, clothes and well-loved dolls.
Priests invoke God’s ageless alibi
of mystery and mercy. And he
remains untried for infanticide.
© Jack Perkins December 2001
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