Another one from my sex education career, and a stellar example of a little knowledge being a dangerous (or at least deeply bewildering) thing.
There have always been births, you know that at least these
Are kind of a must when it comes to a species
Continuing, but there have not always been
Equipment and experts and rooms that are clean.
Though you and your brother and thousands before
Came out into the world through an improvised door
Made by surgeons in hospitals, there is another,
More old fashioned exit, built into the mother.
We talked about sex, the vagina and penis,
How they fit together, and how that can be this
Exciting experience, but there’s a risk
Of infection and pregnancy. Maybe I missed
Out a detail: The way that a baby gets in,
That’s the way out as well. Look. Where do we begin?
The vagina. It stretches. I know it seems small
But for years when we didn’t have surgeons at all
Every baby came out of that marvelous part
Of the body: as vital, at least, as the heart.
Now Caesarian sections save millions of lives.
They’re a wonderful thing, helping babies to thrive
And if there is a snag, or the mother gets ill
Or the baby needs help, then the hospital will
Recommend one. But babies are usually born
The way that they were since humanity’s dawn.
Do not worry about it, please. We will be fine.
We’ve been doing it, now, for a very long time.
Tom Juniper Poetry 