WARNING: This poem is not for the faint of heart.
In the early 1980’s, when I was in Junior High, I witnessed
an abortion on PBS while at home. They used a type of ultrasound that revealed
a full skeleton of a baby, and its movements and actions could be clearly seen.
What I saw struck me so deeply I immediately wrote a poem about it, relating the
baby’s movements and what I believe the baby experienced from his or her point
of view. As I watched the abortion, it was obvious to me that the baby knew he/she
was under attack. Everything I describe in this poem is exactly what the baby
did. This is not the original poem. While in college, it was lent to a friend
and subsequently lost. Unable to recover the original, I’ve rewritten the
memory that will forever be seared in my mind.
HEARTBEAT
Oh, my mommy!
I can’t wait to meet!
I get so excited
I kick my feet
And my daddy
I can hear your voice
Its deep soothing rumble
Daddy, you are my choice!
The steady cadence
Of Mommy’s heartbeat
Rocks me and warms me
Gently to sleep
But to unrest I awaken
What is this I hear?
The voices of clamor
I shed my first tear
I’m awash in pain
But I still find my thumb
This burn won’t stop
So, I try to run
With no place to go
I suck a little faster
Seeking the comfort
Of your familiar laughter
On this new day
Your heartbeats race
But against mine
They don’t match the pace
My warm home trembles
A monster invades!
I yank my feet up
To avoid the blades
I cry for Mommy
I reach my arms out
The beast has my leg
No one hears my shout
It hurts and tears at me
So I grasp in dismay
But it’s all for not, and
Death carries me away…
On an eternal Heartbeat
Out of reach and safe
Into warmth and comfort
Held in Heaven’s embrace
By Sandi Rog
December 2016
