Parenthood

[jisbell00]

Parenthood


Now as a crazy person one cannot
expect to keep a child. The government
is there to see to that. So, take your shot
in court. You may be told where your child went.

23.xi.2023

[jisbell00]

True story, happening today. Of course, the simple solution is to sterilize the mentally ill:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... ilizations

Cheers,
John

[CalebPerry]

John, are people still being sterilized? I read part of the article, but not the whole thing. I assume that that SC ruling was overturned at some point. I did know about the eugenics movement.

[jisbell00]

Not to my knowledge. But in France at least, evidently seeing a psychiatrist is grounds for total loss of custody. Which is in effect not so far from sterilization.

Cheers,
John

[CalebPerry]

As to whether the poem works, I'm not sure. If the law has been overturned, and people are no longer losing their children (in the U.S. in any event), then somehow you need to put the poem in historical perspective. Certainly, to appreciate the poem, the reader needs to know it is about eugenics, so perhaps you should just rename it "Eugenics". I also feel that the poem needs a little more bite, more anger. You are using the word "crazy" in the poem, but Eugenics wasn't just about craziness.

I've tried to figure out how I might write such a poem, and nothing has come to mind yet.

Parenthood

Now as a crazy person one cannot
expect to keep a child. The government
is there to see to that. So, take your shot
in court. You may be told where your child went.

[jisbell00]

Hi Caleb,

As far as I know, nobody is busy sterilizing the mentally ill these days. But that is simply my acidulous reference in the comments. The poem is about total denial of custody to a mother on the basis of her having visited a psychiatrist, which I find astonishing and contemptible. Hence my modest solution - just sterliize the mentally ill to avoid these court cases.
I do hope some of my anger comes through in the poem! The last line, for instance, or that bit about how the state "will see to it." We are talking about a parent losing all right to see their child. I suspect such a procedure would be harder in the US, but I can't be sure, I've not encountered it.

Cheers,
John

[CalebPerry]

Oh, a lot of bad stuff goes on in the U.S. In the comments section on an advice column about how to answer medical questions, someone commented that he/she was temporarily committed to a psyciatric hospital after answering "Yes" to a question about whether he or she was ever suicidal. Now, I have never been asked to fill out a questionnaire about my psychological state; but if I ever am, I'll hand it right back to them completely blank.

[jisbell00]

Ah yes, involuntary commitment. A citizen is then generally under lock and key until an MD wants to release you. As you note, a thing worth avoiding.

Cheers,
John