The Poetry Bus, A Crooked Line 198/365

A Crooked Line

I am a crooked line;
not by birth nor chance.
My curvature is by choice.
Veering from convention
towards freedom of
body, mind, and soul.
A life spiraling upward,
emboldened, not embittered.
Embracing controversy,
challenging convention,
seeking reform.

I was a crooked line.
Will you pick up
where I left off?

by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens, 4-12-11

(toward or towards? 5th line)

This poem is my tribute to Dr. Harriot K. Hunt (1805-1875).  She was among the first (if not the first) women to practice medicine in the USA.  She initially applied to Harvard and was accepted but then an uproar occurred and Harvard reversed its offer. She wrote her memoirs, "Glances and Glimpses" in 1856.  I am reading the out of print book via Google's ebookstore on my I-pad (it was a free download).  If interested, click "HERE".  If you do, skip ahead to 408 and 409 (use the bar at the bottom of the page and drag the circle to quickly get there) - Such AMAZING insight into marriage considering she never married and it was written in 1856!

The above poem is my first participation in "TFE's Poetry Bus" hosted this week by "DanaBug".  The prompt this week is to use "I am a crooked line" for the poem's opening line.

By the way, the hospital record's book in the photo above is over 100 years old 1896-1898.   My mom sent it to me years ago - some of the entries are kind of funny -  for example : Diagnosis: "Nothing" (at least he wasn't charged!) and Diagnosis: "RR Accident" and result: "Death from shock".  (does one really die from shock?)  And I love this one:  Diangosis: "Pregnancy" and Result: "Recovered".  A number of Diagnosis entries have a "?" after them.  How reassuring is that?  :)