The Dead Baby

The young doctor who know one knows

Wraps the dead baby in swaddling clothes

The leathery baby placed

Inside the leathery suitcase

The young doctor walks out the door

Leaves the hospital with its septic air

Carries the dead baby down

The subway stairs

The dead baby is a kernel of truth

Encased in a husk of insidious lies

The young doctor who know one knows

Carries the dead baby in its repose

To the morg

Note: I harvested this from an old notebook from 2004. It is inspired by an episode in William Carlos Williams autobiography. Williams does not tell the story in detail, but he makes reference to a time at a NYC hospital when he smuggled a dead baby to the Mortuary to protect one of the overworked nurses, (I believe that is the inference--again the tale is not clearly told) Being a doctor in NYC after the first world war was rough, by Williams account.