The Truth Seeker: Circumcision


circumcision

we have broken a child's spirit

he looked at me

before we began

and knew me for who i am

hey he said to me

in his gentle smile of recognition

hey you are the same as me

you must be who i am

and then i held down his legs

as we cut off his foreskin

infinitely sore tender life of orgasm

we rejected his life

force

power

he could not fight us off

despite the fact

that he fought with all his might

he gave up the fight

his legs lay beneath the ten ton fire

of my hands

and stayed there

with all his might drained

even after i had let him up

i cannot believe

that it does not harm so tender a life

to have his spirit broken

at this tender time of his life

at my hands

who has ushered in his life

-Karen Hope Erlich
birth song

Originally published in The Truth Seeker, July/August 1989

Read more from parents who regret infant circumcision: DrMomma.org/2010/05/i-circumcised-my-son-healing-from.html




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