MISCARRIAGES.

A WOMAN AND HER MISCARRIAGES.

Quite how many
Miscarriages you’ve
Had you cannot recall.

The last one was in the
Fall. Just got beyond
The other pregnancies,

Then the bleeding began.
Each time part of you
Died. Sure, you felt s**t

And cried, but beyond
That, each time elements
Of you were drained away.

It happened again today.
The usual signs; the same
Deep gut feel. You read

Somewhere of some
Woman on her fifth
Abortion. Some things

Connect badly, disturb,
Rip apart, tear open.
Just for once, you’d like

For a baby to stay, to feel
Its lips around your dugs,
To sense its grab of your

Cheeks, its cry in the night.
If at first you don’t succeed,
Mother says, try try and

Try again. She means well,
Digs out all the clichés,
The old sayings. Maybe,

All those dead babies cling
Around your feet wanting
You to look down and

Sweep them up into your
Empty arms as you do
In your dreams. Nothing

Is ever going to make you
A mother now it seems.