The Lost Baby, by Lucille Clifton: A Poem Review

In this poem, Lucille Clifton utilizes strong imagery, such as, "sewage,' "drowning," "naked," "mountain," "river" and "disconnected gas." Her poem also contains good details, such as, "walk over genesee hill" and "watch you slip like ice." Clifton also rhymes in this poem. For example, in the lines, "...we would have made the thin/...into the canada wind," here the two words at the end of each line have the same sound. Also, there's no punctuation throughout the poem until the end (a period).

Clifton gets very personal in her poem. The description of the baby that she got rid of, "...dropped your almost body down," is very vivid in the sense that we (the readers) can actually see the life of this baby being interrupted, undeveloped. This first line sets the tone for the entire poem, a feeling of sadness--of regret. Clifton seems to regret what she did, throwing her unborn child away, "what did I know about drowning/or being drowned," sounds as if she didn't know any better because she was young, "what did I know."

In the line, "you would have been born into winter," Clifton contemplates the idea of what would have been like if this baby would have been born. Then, she gives us details into what could have been of this baby's life, "to watch you slip like ice into strangers hands." This raises the following question: Was Clifton going to be forced to give up her baby for adoption? Maybe Clifton didn't have the financial resources to keep this baby. She rather disappear this baby from her womb than have to give up her baby once born. She might have been facing a difficult moment in her life, and this is why she seems to be excusing herself for having done this, "if you were here I could tell you these/and some other things," it seems like she is saying, "if only you would know why I did it," trying to excuse herself in order for people not to judge her.

Furthermore, there's a twist towards the end of the poem. For example, in the last stanza, Clifton is saying that if she's judged as being less than a person, she'll suffer the consequences of her action--she deserves the punishment. "If I am ever less than a mountain/let the rivers pour over my head/let the sea take me for a spiller." She accepts her fault in a very humble way.

In conclusion, Clifton tells her story after she had the abortion, how she has mixed feelings of sadness, regret and the motives she had for aborting this child in order for her not to be judged, but then at the end, she accepts her fault.