POEM
The Nuns Assist at Childbirth
Barbara HowesRobed in dungeon black, in mourning
For themselves they pass, repace
The dark linoleum corridors
Of humid wards, sure in the grace
Of self-denial. Blown by duty,
Jet sails borne by a high wind,
Only the face and hands creep through
The shapeless clothing, to remind
One that a woman lives within
The wrappings of this strange cocoon.
Her hands reach from these veils of death
To harvest a child from the raw womb.
The metal scales of paradox
Tip here then there. What can the nun
Think of the butchery of birth,
Mastery of the flesh, this one
Vigorous mystery? Rude life
From the volcano rolls and pours,
Tragic, regenerate, wild. Sad,
The unborn wait behind closed doors.
Barbara Howes, “The Nuns Assist at Childbirth” from In the Cold Country. Copyright 1954 by Barbara Howes. Reprinted with the permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Source: Poetry (February 1949).
This poem originally appeared in the February 1949 issue of Poetry.
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