at the clinic

the keeper

of the blood and white colored sheets

quickly exchanges one for another;

life and death are on the line

those present are required

to write an essay

in twenty five words or less

justifying

all this dying

saline laps at the mouths

of those yet unborn

unsuspecting, they open wide

embryo memories churn through

the spin cycle and on out the drain

and the keeper

of the blood and white colored sheets

simply says 'next'.

© ingrid havens-trinka
First Place Free Verse Poetry Kansas Authors' Contest 1989