" Her Sea "

I have counseled countless girls on the sidewalks of abortion clinics and in our EMC centers. Based on the time spent with these women, I have gained a certain emotion and tone.

I wanted to try and capture this emotion and tone by means of a poem. The poem you are about to read is based not on one particular women, but numerous cases I have had.

One that stands out in particular is a girl I was counseling in the Bronx who had just finished watching an abortion video. She was terribly upset and was crying. She called the father of her baby, just to hear him laugh at her. Of all the responses he could have chosen to have with her during her vulnerable state, he chose laughter. Apparently her tears of fear from getting an abortion were comical to him.

I hope it helps you feel the same depth of sorrow and compassion I feel for these precious women :

The window's light breaks darkness to my eyes
Coping with reality of last night breaks joy
Depth of solicitude leaves the mouth tongue tied
Just thinking of the new task ahead I might have to employ
Where is he now?
What does he know?
How does he not get my anxiety that grows?
I am a girl in the world
With no one nearby
The weight of the sea is too heavy for me to cry
Why doesn't he get, I feel so alone?
He sits there and laughs at my emotions now exposed
Not out of mockery, but sheer misunderstanding
My fall is too great for a soft gentle landing
Different options are running and running in my mind
The one that pops out makes me think, "but I'm not that kind !"
There's a plan A, a Plan B; plans limited within reach
How could I not practice what I preach?
Truth is, you don't know what you would do, till you already do it
No option for you was a good enough fit
Options, Options.
People tell me I have a choice
They fight with their lives the right for my voice
But in the end, what's it worth?
This "right to choice" speech...
It's traveled all over, but in my heart it could never reach
It couldn't get down as low as my sea
It couldn't drive out the darkness within me
So where am I left?
These thoughts, options, cries...
No man or lover is here to comply
I was all stirred up, just to be left in the middle of the sea
To now simply wait for the waves to come crashing down on me