2022 Poetry At Hayner: A Mosaic of Voices June 11, 2o22 7:30 pm
Midwifing Loss Erica Manto-Paulson
A pregnant mother lost a baby at fourteen weeks and buried the fetus behind a woodpile in her backyard. efore that, she asked if I would see his small body inside a blue ceramic bowl in her fridge and how the baby’s arm moved at the elbow hinge when he touched him. He had a torso and legs and two palms that would have clenched into fists when he cried.
Who can bear the shape of loss delivered in a paralyzing gaze, and all the ways it would have looked like you. From the small cold mouth of survival, we hinge at the joint and move. Let us remember how e would have held on; where we would have loved.