Cesarean

Dale Conrad is a medical student at Carle Illinois College of Medicine who takes inspiration from both work and personal life to describe human emotions.

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Cesarean


Who the fuck portrayed birth as soft and beautiful?
It is beautiful
But not soft.


It is beautiful
In the determination in the mother’s eyes
the strength in her body
But it is not soft.


Like two wild animals tearing into a carcass
they move with speed and precision
Rooting through the body
Seeking their prize
They ignore the blood pooling around their feet
They ignore the blood that coats their hands and stains their front


They find it, and pull
With all their strength they tear it out
The prize they fought so valiantly to gain
They pass off into waiting hands without a pause


The world does not stand still to acknowledge the new life
The infant takes its first breath
As the mother murmurs her love
Oblivious to her intestines kissing the air


They rush to reverse the damage they inflicted
As tenderly as they were vicious
ensuring the would be fatal wound is closed back up


A battle occurred with mother nature
And both sides won
as they exit the room with one more than they entered

Dale Conrad is a medical student at Carle Illinois College of Medicine who takes inspiration from both work and personal life to describe human emotions.

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Anonymous
August 11, 2024 5:21 am

HI Dale. There are some great lines in this short poem. I think the thing that really struck me is the pronouns that you used repeatedly to describe the physicians. I wonder if you intentionally refer to them as “they” rather than calling them doctors? Perhaps the flow and musicality of the poem demanded a word other than “physician” or “doctor” or “OB/GYN”, but I was just wondering? The other part of the poem that… Read more »

Last edited 3 months ago by Anonymous
Dale C
August 18, 2024 12:07 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Thank you so much for the kind feedback! I’m glad you enjoyed reading it. To answer your questions, I did intentionally refer to the doctors as “they”, mainly because of the flow I wanted to create when reading the poem. Another reason was I wanted the doctors to remain anonymous and faceless for as long as possible to better draw the connection to a wild animal. If I had said “Like two wild animals tearing… Read more »

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