Incompatibility
“Sometimes, when I look at my body in the mirror, I hate it,” said the woman.
“It’s silky and curvaceous,” I said. “It can perform miracles. It can create new life.”
“That’s the problem. Creating life is too much power. I can’t stand the responsibility. It’s playing God.”
“People have been doing it for thousands of years. Why do you think we were able to populate the planet and build great cities?”
“Maybe it’s just one huge mistake.”
She always did insist that we use a condom, and I don’t think it was mainly to ward off diseases. Or maybe to ward off the worst of diseases. That would be us, humanity.
I had always wanted to be a father. The affair was brief.
Ethan Goffman’s first volume of poetry, Words for Things Left Unsaid, was published by Kelsay Books in March of 2020. His poems and flash fiction have appeared in Alien Buddha, Ariel Chart, BlazeVox, Bradlaugh’s Finger, Burgeon, EarthTalk, The Loch Raven Review, Mad Swirl, Madness Muse, Ramingo’s Blog, The Raw Art Review, Setu, Verse Virtual and elsewhere. Ethan is co-founder of It Takes a Community, a Montgomery College initiative bringing poetry to students and local residents. He is also founder and producer of the Poetry & Planet podcast on EarthTalk.org.
