Warning: Sensitive topic broached. Björn at dVerse: MTB asks us to write a cadralor, which poetic form consists of "5, unrelated, numbered stanzaic images, each of which can stand alone as a poem, is fewer than 10 lines, and ideally constrains all stanzas to the same number of lines. Imagery is crucial to cadralore: each stanza should be a whole, imagist poem, almost like a scene from a film, or a photograph. The fifth stanza acts as the crucible, alchemically pulling the unrelated stanzas together into a love poem. By “love poem,” we mean that your fifth stanza illuminates a gleaming thread that runs obliquely through the unrelated stanzas and answers the compelling question: 'For what do you yearn?'" Click on Mr. Linky to join us.
A bird cries over the tele-
phone wire, is it you? is it done?
over black shrouded head
Shiny pruning shears in her gloved
hands, methodically apply to de-
locate dead heads, snip, snip
There once was a small torso in a
womb severally dislodged by forceps
into medical waste
If death comes in slippered feet,
will they curl at the ends
or just your lips? Mother?
All the ghosts have left, barren
in winter, the autumn leaves twist
the sea breezes rustle in her mind.
This Jolly Beggar 
Dora, thank you for the content warning. Very tough to read with vivid haunting images. I’ve known a few women who have undergone the procedure. It is my belief that the rustling sea breezes never leave them. Right to choose needs to remain intact, but…
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Lisa,
Jumped in the deep end with this first cadralor, didn’t I, though it wasn’t meant to go that way. I’ve never met a woman who has not been left scarred by abortion. Many times they’re pressured into it by boyfriends/parents, which make it all the more heinous.
pax,
dora
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Dora, I know what you mean about the pressure by others both at a personal and at a societal level. Yes, it *is* heinous! So many times it’s a young person who wears down under pressure. I remember when I got pregnant for my first son. I was single and used our health department to get the pregnancy test. The nurse who confirmed it asked multiple times if I was sure I wanted to keep the baby!
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Not at all surprised by this, dear Lisa, nor that your heart was more than equal to the circumstances and to resisting the pressure. There are places that offer support and resources before and after pregnancy but they’re not the frontline point of contact for many. Something needs to change about the way we talk about abortion. More than 60 million babies killed in the U.S. alone since 1972. Untold emotional suffering for the mothers. No other country in the world makes it so easy after the first trimester.
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😦
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Well written in the way that I cringed more than once! So much regret in the last stanza, truly haunting!
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Thanks, Tricia. It was a little harrowing to write but I’m enjoying trying this new form out and it seemed particularly suited to the topic somehow..
pax,
dora
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I think the form does invite some risk, it’s a daring write!
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We were warned. 🙂
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Memories and regret resonate – the end verse is dynamite
Much💜love
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Thanks so much, Gillena!
pax,
dora
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Delicate and sensitive topic, thanks for the warning. I can’t imagine what these woman go through, and what it takes for them to go on.
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Grace,
My heart goes out to them too, and hope that less and less women will walk the path they do.
pax,
dora
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Quite horrific and haunting imagery, and you make a very good point that abortion is not a simple procedure, but traumatic for both mother and unborn child. I am not anti-abortionist, and don’t want to wade in on that debate, but I very much felt the presence of a tiny human within me during my pregnancies, including one I lost involuntarily.
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Ingrid,
I’m so sorry to hear you endured a miscarriage and know from my mother’s and friends’ experiences that the children they carried and never held, never cease to be mourned deeply. Life is life. It’s hard to deny that abortion is the taking of one.
pax,
dora
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The imagery is stunning and you are very brave to take on this subject matter.
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This is deeply impactful … beautifully composed.
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A powerful and sensitive write on a difficult subject…my heart aches for the women whose motherhood is cut short. It’s certainly a bloody business!
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Haunting and horrific. The ghosts at the end may never leave. This is powerful poetry, Dora.
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So moving Dora, a powerful read on a very difficult and present experience, it never goes according to those I know who’ve been through it.
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So very moving… It cannot be an easy decision, and most likely will stay with them.
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Wow. Very powerful and hard-hitting, Dora. I like how the imagery in the final stanza is almost attempting to be comforting, but in fact accentuates the hollow feeling I got throughout the poem. Always appreciate your work, Dora 🙂
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