[Marion Shore]

The Iamb

That last year of the fifties, still before
the eyes of ultrasound, the doctor missed
me waiting there behind you. When he pressed
the stethoscope, his single silver ear,
to the darkness, listening with no picture,
he couldn't find me hiding and dismissed
the second heart, my weaker beat, as just
a bouncing off, an echo trailing yours.

Since then, the one named Ann, defined and certain,
you've always known which way your life was bound;
while I, a hesitation, then a sound
that never seems to finish or begin,
forever pause to check myself, to question,
that second beat still waiting to be found.


I don't think anyone but a twin could understand the closeness of this bond – two human beings sharing the same womb, the same DNA… Of course, it's not that simple – with the bond comes sibling rivalry, intensified all the more by the closeness, the lack of individual identity, the inevitable comparison of one twin to the other.

The narrator of "The Iamb" describes this experience from the POV of the "weaker twin". From the beginning, N. is overshadowed by the slightly older sibling – this before the days of ultrasound where there are no surprises – the hidden presence, the second heartbeat that the doctor dismisses "as an echo, trailing the stronger beat."

This second heartbeat serves as a metaphor for the self-perception of the narrator, who, compared to the "defined and certain twin," sees his/herself as "a hesitation, then a sound," still overshadowed by the strong, confident beat of the older twin, still "that second beat ... waiting to be found."

I think the poet portrays this darker side of twinship with clarity, insight and poignancy. Oh, and the title! Talk about the connection between form and content! What better way to express the strong beat/weak beat metaphor than iambic pentameter?

Bravo/a!