Thursday 22 March 2018

Down's & Eugenics




If I was a rose and you had choice,
would you pick me, pluck me down from the tree?  
Would you hold me soft in the palm of your hand,
hold my blush to the rose of your cheek?

My mouth is a rosebud waiting for kisses;
my heart is in blossom pulsating for you.
Please will you choose me; please love me
don’t lose me, for my heart beats only for thee.   

Anna :o[ 


Yesterday was World Down Syndrome Day, but I must admit I would not have known had I not received a (subscribed to) email from MercatorNet. 

It is not the first email I have received re Down’s, and one email (I really can’t remember its source) alerted me to John's Crazy Socks and I became a customer.  John’s Crazy Socks is a million-dollar company run by a young man with Down’s and his father.  We all, all of us, have the potential to succeed (in life), if only others believe in us, believe that we all have value.  And we all do, although this is not the mindset of some, who believe (or are directed to believe) that those with Down’s are valueless, will have no quality of life and be unhappy.  And if a parent of such a child, so will we.

It is a sad fact that most diagnosed with Down’s (in utero) are aborted.  Iceland claims that it has almost eradicated Down’s – but this purely by termination – and the rest of the western world is not far behind.  What does this make us?

Please know that although I am pro-life, I am also not anti-abortion.  This might appear a contradiction, but it is not. If a prenatal diagnosis of incompatibly with life is made, then I agree with termination.  If a baby is born and the same diagnosis is made, and is only kept alive with intensive invasive interventions and has no quality of life, indeed suffering pain, and there is no hope of a ‘cure’ then I believe life support should end, although I do understand if a parent of such a child, I might probably fight this.

But Down’s is not comparable with the above, life has value. And we should think of what path we are taking, a path to where eugenics, the driving out of those deemed imperfect becomes acceptable, becomes the norm.

If my mum had been pregnant with me in today’s world, she could have had me aborted, no question – although I am certain she wouldn’t – but the majority of my life has been ‘normal’.  I went to school, got a job, got married and had two wonderful children and now two wonderful grandchildren.  I have value and am valued.  If I had been aborted, five new lives would not exist.

To close, another heart-lifting most beautiful video found on the Beeb whilst researching.



Shared with the good folk at dVerse.
Please visit the links.

Friday 16 March 2018

Sleeping



Sometimes, when the day yawns 
and the horizon swallows up the sun,
I think of you. 

Night always had you in its grip;
as vicelike as your hands round the bottle,
as vicelike as your hands round my throat,
pressing. 

I warned you about sleeping,
that I would get my revenge.   

Murder was surprisingly easy.

Anna :o]

For Hedge's 55.

Also shared with the good folk at Poets United

Image:  Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons   
Author:  Chad fitz



Friday 9 March 2018

Getting it Wrong



I hug people; I’m like that, tactile. 
I don’t hug everybody,
just those (I sense) send out welcoming signals,
those who want me to take them,      now.

Sometimes I do get it wrong though
and they shrink back,
wriggle themselves free from embrace,
look at me fearful.  

Not everyone trusts a man with a scythe.

Anna :o]


Image: Courtesy of  Wikimedia Commons
Author:  skhakirov

Sunday 4 March 2018

I'm Coming!

Crepuscule
Heinrich Kuhn (1897)

Soft, defused, that light behind your eyes,
don’t kid yourself, forget the lies,
twilights a coming, day will turn to night.

Go on,  
stick your labels here and there,
remind your self of what’s and where,
write your diary, scribble notes,
write your self your memory joggers.

Hah, won’t work forever,
things’ll keep on fading,
everything a shade of grey. 
Take your time – I don’t mind waiting,
you know I’ll get you anyway.

Anna  :o]

Inspired by Kerry’s ekphrastic prompt at Real Toads, cheers Kerry