Analysis of "Dancing, before you were born" by J. Hope Stein

 Poem found here:  "Dancing, before you were born" by J. Hope Stein 

Analysis might not be the right word.  I also usually keep out the "About this Poem"  but it gives context to the poem, but doesn't detract from the poem if that makes sense.

So this is more of a reader response because I can't keep this poem out of my mind.  This poem made me uncomfortable to read the first time, I skipped it over and quickly wanted to read another one.   But this poem pulled me back.  It was not with the first stanza but the last two.  But let's start with the title, "Dancing, before you were born," seems like a happy, upbringing title with a baby, but then you get to the poem.

It was like the universal scene for

miscarriage in the language of film

when I woke up in a pool of blood

There's a collectiveness in the first line which makes me think the speaker wants everyone to know what this poem is about.  There's no hidden imagery, language, or redirection.  This is raw.  This is a miscarriage, and it's universally known.  The second line including "the language of film" there's a certain distance in which the speaker seems like an observer trying to figure out what's going on like the reader.

The doctor said the trouble was
with my placenta. 

Straight forward explanation of what's going on.  And the next reaction lines are heartbreaking.

--"But right now, the baby's dancing" Right

now, the baby's dancing. 

The "right" band then the line break, I feel, is the emotional crux in the poem.  The miscarriage is sad, but there's a certain sense of disbelief with the "right" like the speaker is looking for affirmation that the baby is dancing, is still alive.  But that drop down and the white space feels much more dramatic for me as though the realization sets in for the speaker and the reader.  The repetition of the baby's dancing turned to a spiritual one for me because the physical...the actual doesn't exist.