You become accustomed
to the term ‘miracle’.
They apply it as a designation
around here, speak in hushed tones,
and your belly
is much admired (and measured).
They feed you up
and send in pamper-bots
so you never complain
about the service,
just wait patiently
until the day they come to harvest
your pumpkin womb.
The next installment in my dystopian series of 55-worders.
I enjoyed reading your write.
ReplyDeleteWe take the miracle of motherhood for granted. My poem today is related to this one.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful!💞 Motherhood is a foreign territory which every woman comes across in her life .. it is both heartening and at times scary as we plunge into the realm of love, affection and responsibility.💞
ReplyDeleteLovely; motherhood and your poem.
ReplyDeletethey come to harvest.... a chilling line ~
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading into the chill factor in the dystopian context.
DeleteThis is very cool, Kerry.
ReplyDeleteNever been a mother, never wanted to be. This chills me to the bone, your future visions of motherhood.
ReplyDeleteAs was my intention.. wombs become farmland.
DeleteThis makes me think of the practice of being a surrogate for someone else's child... something that I think has become the only choice of motherhood for some poor women... imagine it would happen on a bigger scale in a version of the handmaid's tale.
ReplyDeleteOne wonders what the future holds... Brave New World, Handmaid's Tale, such fiction seems all too close to being reality.
DeleteI enjoyed being a mother on my own terms and am now a grandmother on mine and my daughter's terms. I wouldn't want to live in the world you portray in this poem, which reminds me of the dystopia of The Handmaid's Tale. I find the pamper-bots disturbing, Kerry, and the lines:
ReplyDelete'just wait patiently
until the day they come to harvest
your pumpkin womb'.
Great.. I'm glad the final lines convey the sinister undertone.
DeleteThis dystopian series is quite a delight, Kerry. I am loving these short verses, with their subtleties and references.
ReplyDeleteThis first and foremost reminded me of Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
This scenario which is traditionally beautiful is intoned in a rather peculiar voice here creating a certain tension, especially using the term "harvest", making it such a scary proposition.
Farming out body parts... doesn't seem as improbable as once it might have been.
DeleteI wish I had read all of the series up to this point. We really seem to be living in a dystopian world right now. You create a chilling picture.
ReplyDeleteTeresa from Razzamadazzle
Thanks, Teresa. The others are available on the sidebar.
DeleteThis brilliantly chilling little piece put me in mind of of The Handmaids' Tale (which I could barely read and cannot watch). But then I went back and read all your 'New Dystopia' pieces (for the first time). I see that it is quite a different world you are describing. Certainly a very thought-provoking one, with its own horror, but I can read it and even look forward to more.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rosemary. The Handmaid's tale is quite signature in this regard, but this world is a bit different in that there is a soft-pedalling of uncomfortable details, and a kind of soporific aura surrounding the exploitation... something which I think is becoming apparent in the world, a sort of mass dulling of the senses, if I may put it that way.
Delete
ReplyDelete~~ after reading Rosemary's comment, I am off to play catch up with your poetry. It has been a long six months of serious illness with my son Carl. Time for me to breathe.
Thanks, Helen. glad to have you stop by for a read.
Deletepamper-bots! will it come to that or will everything be wiped out by humanity's callousness and stupidity well before it does!
ReplyDeleteTime will tell.
DeleteOh wow, this is dystopian indeed. So well penned.
ReplyDeleteAnnother fine 'n' feral dysto-55, Kerry -- too much of future angst is an impropriety -- shattering glimpses maybe all we can afford. A mother, a womb, harvested like a pumpkin for the batteries of tomorrow. Amen and ahem.
ReplyDeleteIndeed... there you have it in a nutshell!
DeleteHumanity has been quite adept at overpopulating the Earth I wonder whether the day will come when birth will be a miracle because of our abuse of the world. We have devastated many other species so we are quite capable of destroying our own as we are that stupid!
ReplyDeleteI fear so. Thanks for the insights.
Deleteanother brilliantly crafted 55 in this chilling piece - and others noted, your careful selection of words like "harvest" and the associations of womb etc. make this absolutely stark and ugly. And I really like how you've introduced the word "miracle" - it is used in such a way that we have no choice but to really stop and reflect -
ReplyDeleteactually this whole 55 does just this - so yes, a flash - that creeps a little too close for comfort, but is necessary for the truths it suggests; brilliantly done Kerry. (and yes, darker dystopian words can be beautiful)
I had to be quite careful in my word selection - so I am glad to hear that the choice worked to convey the juxtaposition of miracle, harvest etc I wanted to suggest something that was not quite right with the world.
DeleteThe pamper bots and mention of harvesting add a sinister tone here. I started thinking about a cross between a Handmaid's Tale and Rosemary's Baby.
ReplyDeleteThe tone and the closing lines are perfect for the season... and for the topic. So true.
ReplyDeleteI had to slip a pumpkin in there... I'm glad you spotted it.
Delete;-)