Goodbye, sweet fetal child— for you shall die,
Because a mother’s love is also dead:
The hallowed place of nurture where you lie
Shall soon become the ground where blood is shed.
The battle to reject the womanly,
Or motherly, for ‘me, myself and I’
Shall forfeit noble care of progeny
(That greater good): hence hearts have gone awry.
The battlefield where ‘what is hers’ to keep
Claims hedonistic ‘choice’ its weaponry;
But poison, scalpel, pill or force will reap
That bitter fruit, bare yet the casualty.
For those untimely born, it must suffice
That they, not choice, become the sacrifice.
Theresa Rodriguez is author of Jesus and Eros: Sonnets, Poems and Songs and is a classical singer and voice teacher who writes for Classical Singer Magazine.
Featured Image: “The Wait and the Reward” by Anna Rose Bain – 30×30″ – oil on linen
A beautiful choice of illustration to go with my sonnet, thank you very much Evan!!
Thanks Theresa for your appreciation. Love.
The “hallowed place of nurture” is woman’s alone,
not a nosy neighbor’s, a religious prattler’s, nor any man’s.
Romanticizing accidental pregnancies as sacred
when children by the millions go hungry every night
is beyond harmless ignorance,
perpetuates world hunger and pointless guilt.
If you consider it rejection of what is “womanly”
and call it “hedonistic” choice, then are you stepping up
to raise the unwanted children women are forced to produce?
Powerful poetry, Theresa.
Thank you Reid, I appreciate your “appreciation” very much indeed!
Strong words bravely spoken: Well done.
Thank you very much Michael!!
Thank you, very much. From my uncle and my grandmother.
“Open your mouth for the speechless” – God’s Word.
I WILL CONTEMPLATE
Today I will contemplate
Surges in cosmic memory
And wind will help me
In uncovering breaths of universe.
Pulverising the depths of solitude
I will find fluidity in great oceans
Studded with shoals of sun creatures
Will get adorned in colours of millions.
Thoughts in flowers amid ornaments
Will shine like the starry heavens
Vibrating their silvery tonalities
In rivers of some great adventures.
Durlabh Singh
Thank you for directing me to this well-written and powerful poem, Theresa. I hope to read more of your poetry in the future!
Thank you very much Amy!
Amy, I just recently put together a chapbook of 37 of my sonnets. It is available in ebook form on amazon.com if you search under my name. I hope might enjoy reading them. I have some paper copies as well; if you would like one perhaps you could direct Evan to give me your address and I will mail you one straightaway.