Saturday, February 21, 2009

Mamashee, Issue No.1, Volume 4

Herewith, the latest selection from dusted-off published poetry and short fiction, circa 1970s vintage and beyond....

The Issue

...is whether or not
it is or is not
and words like
potential
viable
first-trimester
above all foetus
step daintily around
the issue which is
let's take a deep breath:
ABORTION

Myself
I worry about
the lost and bewildered
children left to
fend for themselves;
someone's always too busy
to listen to them
or stick around when
they're needed.

The
issue is also that old
Greek ideal termed
the Golden Mean.
Middle ground. Don't
tip the teeter-totter
at either end.

Do as you like but
I don't have to do as
you like nor do you have to
like what I do. Goddammit!
I've got to like my
decisions. They surround

me every damn decision
I've ever made: those
that crowd my kitchen
and the others that
crowd my conscience. I
have no trouble living
with both.

c. 1980 Rita Rosenfeld
published in Mamashee

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