Homage to Lucille, Dr. Lord-Heinstein

Piercy, Marge

Primary Category: Literature / Poetry

Genre: Poem

Annotated by:
Moore, Pamela
  • Date of entry: Aug-05-1994

Summary

This is a description and thank you to a female gynecologist and supporter of birth control who lived and worked in the 1930s. The narrator describes the gentleness and respect that marked the doctor's practice.

Commentary

It is edifying to go through this poem carefully, noting the doctor's strengths. She is first described as a mother and priestess. She is, in other words, woman-centered. She is also a teacher (not a lecturer). As priestess she teaches women to know and love their bodies. The doctor "did not think [she] had a license to question us about our married state or lovers' sex." She respects her patients' privacy; administering to their health, not governing their morality. The doctor is also described as a warrior, battling for womens' reproductive freedom. Finally, she is described as respectful--a respect bordering on love.

Primary Source

My Mother's Body

Publisher

Knopf

Place Published

New York

Edition

1985