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Let me take you in my arms
Sayonara
Press your rosebud tiny lips
to this full breast
Breathe softly so as not to alarm you
Raise you up to the sunlight
Teach you letters numbers
planets the cycle of the moon
Let me calm you
Sayonara
in the grip of a nightmare
Rub your soft belly
as you snuggle sweet
Hold your hand
as we cross the street
together
Shout your name
if you run into danger
And your father
Sayonara
threatens suicide
if I do not abort you
Silently I ponder
whose hand to hold
whose hand to let go
Sayonara
“Sayonara” emerged in a burst of light. As a feminist, I felt pulled powerfully to support a woman’s right to choose what would happen to her own body, and as a womanist, I also found that the right to choose became a weapon of oppression against women whose bodies and souls felt connected intimately to the children growing within them. I felt that abortion makes women better sex toys for men, and many women who have the procedure ache for years afterward, feeling strongly that they’ve killed somebody.
When I was pregnant, I dreamed of a baby blowing bubbles in the amniotic fluid, telling me, “Protect me.” I felt very strongly that this spirit would be brought to earth through my body. It truly meant choosing life, honoring spiritual connection beyond this world of form.
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Writings
Kiesa has been writing all her life. From books to poetry to plays to feature writing, click on the links below for samples of her work:
"Sayonara" at TRIVIA: Voices of Feminism
"Branching Out..." at WNC Magazine
"Giving Our Kids the Freedom to Grow Up," The Denver Post
"Cathy Smith Bowers: A Poet's Progress," the Tryon Daily Bulletin
"An Ameli Anomaly: Parenting a Twice-Exceptional Girl" at Davidson Institute
"Caiyalynn Burrell Child Crisis Center opens in Asheville" Mountain Xpress
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