suzanne r. harvey

PROGNOSIS

Motherhood is a terminal disease
With brief periods of remission
Moments when the dancers spin
In a subdued light
Hours when no shred of memory
Survives to haunt the heart
Days when the ulcer throbs like a forlorn solo
Choreographed for islands
Where familiar invaders are embraced.


A member of the Academy of American Poets, Suzanne Richardson Harvey lectured for almost two decades at Stanford University before retiring. And before moving to Northern California, she taught at Tufts University, where she earned her doctorate in Elizabethan poetry, specifically that of Edmund Spenser. Her poetry first appeared in The Christian Science Monitor and then in Ascent Aspirations Magazine (Canada), nthposition (UK), and SpeedPoets (Australia), among other venues.