The shape appears on the side of our old barn where a patch of shadow has left an impression into the grey, weather-beaten wood. It was made by an oak tree— older yet, with branches elegantly arched like woody umbrellas, standing before the barn, casting a remarkably female form into the wall like a sun […]
Erica Manto-Paulson
A 2021 Pushcart Nominee, Erica Manto Paulson’s poems have appeared in Thimble Literary Magazine, Sheila Na Gig, the Northern Appalachia Review, Slippery Elm, and elsewhere. Her work has also been featured on NPR's "Conrad’s Corner" (WYSO). Erica’s first chapbook, Hunger, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2021. An Ohio native, Erica is a homebirth midwife assistant and doula, which drives her ongoing obsession with birth in its many forms. She finds inspiration for her poetry in the fertile fields of her home state, drawing on a deep connection to the surrounding world.
Midwifing Loss
A pregnant mother lost a baby at fourteen weeks and buried the fetus behind a woodpile in her backyard. Before that, she asked if I would see his small body inside a blue ceramic bowl in her fridge and how the baby’s arm moved at the elbow hinge when she touched him. He had a […]