A canvas
Of delicately oiled
Skin, stretched taut
Over five pounds of desperate
Longing that recalled hopeful
Conversations, until the
Blades of splintered sun
Pierced
The lonely ebony night,
And guttural sobs, when
her trickle of crimson had
Found them wanting,
Again.
Five inestimable pounds, that was
A fragrant sunflower
From the blooming fields of Tuscany,
Whose wilting heralded
A day when somersaults, hiccups
And carefree gambol
Ceased.
An armada of unknowing acquaintances
Who shot congratulatory darts
At a mother whose belly was
Still
Large with the grief her
Heart could not hold,
And whose bound breasts
Wept
For a silent mouth;
A mouth gone cold.
A mahogany crib that sat
Unused,
Dismantled;
Like the dreams they left
With a dusty car seat
In the corner of a room.
Contributing Writer
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
Elizabeth is a fourth year medical student who is also concurrently earning her Master of Science in clinical research at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. She will graduate in May 2020. In 2014, she graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in biochemistry. She enjoys table tennis, learning the saxophone and writing poetry in her free time. After graduating medical school, Elizabeth would like to pursue a career in otolaryngology.