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.