'Rumors, Secrets & Lies': Poetry anthology gets at complexity of pregnancy and choice
What do poets do amidst the chaos created by the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade?
They write — in a new anthology from Anhinga Press, over 100 poets re-examine the past, remind us of the days before the landmark ruling, and help us consider each pregnancy’s complexities, for all involved.
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In "Rumors, Secrets, & Lies," editors Carol Lynne Knight and Kristine Snodgrass have collected poems from across the country that address pregnancy, abortion, and choice. These poems assess protest, stigma, birth, and loss in a way that compels the reader to powerfully connect with the women and men described.
The uniquely designed book, divided into five themed sections, addresses topics ranging from facing-off with anti-abortion protestors to facing “no choice” in times past.
The writers grapple with the complexities of loss and the consequences of hiding an unwanted pregnancy. Complementing each section are abstract visuals that capture the emotional tenor of the poems, creating a nice contrast between the multifaceted content and each page’s design.
Internationally-known poet Naomi Shihab Nye begins the book with her prose poem “Rumors” that details memories of a high school friend who “vanished” during the academic year. The stigma of a pregnancy and its circumstances makes her friend want to remain invisible. When the narrator sees her downtown years later, she honks her car horn, but her friend speeds “off, ducking behind her curtain of blonde hair, as if she didn’t want to be noticed. She still wore a look of panic …”
The judgment of a doctor unwilling to give birth control to young women haunts Tina Mozelle Braziel’s “Barren.” He tells them they’re barren because he “chose / pregnancy as a punishment / a girl would welcome, / praising it as God’s own miracle.” He believes a woman, “fruitful or fallow, [should be] treated / as a mere field in this land.”
But even when allowed birth control, things can go awry. In Joanne Tillemans’ “I Had Somewhat Left,” an ectopic pregnancy followed by a post-abortion infection, the narrator confronts life’s fragility — hers and others: “I didn’t know how close I came to dying. … Maybe John did, as he laid his head on my stomach and cried. // It took me a long time to find a home again.”
The poem “Witness,” by Dana Lichty, charts the birth of a stillborn, how the nurse hands the body over and says, “They say you should look, darlin’.” The narrator tells us “Grief slurs the words, but I sing to my baby,” a newborn lost to genetic abnormalities.
Maya Pindyck, in “I Was a Girl,” reminds us how important it is for women to have the freedom to control their own lives. She describes “sun surging my body & weeks / later the pregnancy test confirmed it, / I was a girl / which is to say I knew what I wanted, / an abortion. …” After the experience, the narrator recognizes “I was a girl / growing back to the womb of stories / holding the girl I was, which is to say / one flower in a flowering field / fighting for this day.”
These powerful poems are both challenging and moving, beyond the polemic, and full of heart.
Michael Trammell, the author of the novel "Rad Sick Record," is an associate editor for the Apalachee Review and a poet.
If you go
What: Official release event for "Rumors, Secrets & Lies" with readers: Marina Brown, Linda Marie Cossa, Donna Decker, Carolina Hospital, Carol Lynne Knight, Pat MacEnulty, Lydia Malone, Anne Meisenzah, Marda Messick, Katya Taylor
When: 5 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5
Where: Common Ground Books, 128 N Bronough St, parking in lots off Call Street
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Poetry anthology examines pregnancy in wake of Supreme Court decision
