‘One and Only’ by Edythe Haendel Schwartz The Society December 30, 2015 News of Note, Poetry October 29, 2015: China renounces its 35 year old one-child policy, but strict controls continue despite the change. The Party rules our wombs, with Orwellian coercion– forced abortion, sterilization. Infant girls cry from tombs. What if a one and only were to suffer an untimely death? Shido shido shido- a million pitied shido parents now with little security, meager rights to enter homes for elder care or buy a burial plot. I am a one and only, bear the weight. I sing my grievances in silence, fear surprises– Edythe Haendel Schwartz is the author of two collections, “A Palette of Leaves,” Mayapple Press, 2012, and “Exposure,” Finishing Line Press, 2007. Awards include a 2015 Pushcart Prize nomination, First Prize in the 2012 Friends of Acadia Competition, and finalist for the 2012 Eric Hopper DaVinci Eye Award. Her poems appear widely in journals and anthologies, including Amoskeag, Calyx, Cave Wall, Earth’s Daughters, Spillway, PMS, Natural Bridge, Poet Lore, Potomac Review, Hawaii Pacific Review, Cider Press Review, and Water-Stone, among others. Featured Image: Mrs. Liu fled from China to escape a forced abortion. She gave birth to her baby in Los Angeles on Dec. 2, 2011. (Jenny Liu/The Epoch Times) NOTE: The Society considers this page, where your poetry resides, to be your residence as well, where you may invite family, friends, and others to visit. Feel free to treat this page as your home and remove anyone here who disrespects you. Simply send an email to mbryant@classicalpoets.org. Put “Remove Comment” in the subject line and list which comments you would like removed. The Society does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or comments and reserves the right to remove any comments to maintain the decorum of this website and the integrity of the Society. Please see our Comments Policy here. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.