Too short to be a poem? ¿Demasiado breve pour être un poème?

English followed by une version en français y una versión en español.

Too short to be a poem?

She had her breasts to feed her child;

But child, she had none.

She had her womb to hold the child;

But sperm, she wanted none.

For sperm and child there was the vagina;

It bled, month after month.

Note: A similar poem about a man might, on the physical level, be simpler, and on the social level more complex? And we may note that the twenty-first century man may indeed be desperate to have sex—which might still involve depositing his sperm inside a woman?—though he also wishes to avoid fathering a child.

Français

Trop court pour être un poème ?

Elle avait ses seins pour nourrir son enfant ;

Mais l’enfant, elle ne l’avait pas.

Elle avait le ventre pour garder l’enfant ;

Mais de sperme, n’en voulait pas.

Pour le sperme et l’enfant il y avait le vagin ;

Qui saignait, mois après mois.

Español

¿Demasiado breve para ser un poema?

Tenía sus pechos para alimentar a su hijo;

Pero niño, no tenía.

Tenía el vientre para albergar al niño;

Pero esperma, no quería ninguno.

Para el esperma y el niño estaba la vagina;

Ella sangraba, mes tras mes.


— Poem(s) and artwork by William Eaton.

Cover of William Eaton's latest collection of poetry and prose: 4 billions eggs (2024)
Order the book from Amazon USA or from the Amazon outlet in your country.

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