The End

We decided to have the abortion, became             
killers together. The period that came
changed nothing. They were dead, that young couple
who had been for life.
As we talked of it in bed, the crash
was not a surprise. We went to the window,
looked at the crushed cars and the gleaming     
curved shears of glass as if we had
done it. Cops pulled the bodies out
Bloody as births from the small, smoking
aperture of the door, laid them
on the hill, covered them with blankets that soaked
through. Blood
began to pour
down my legs into my slippers. I stood
where I was until they shot the bound               
form into the black hole                               
of the ambulance and stood the other one
up, a bandage covering its head,
stained where the eyes had been.
The next morning I had to kneel
an hour on that floor, to clean up my blood,
rubbing with wet cloths at those glittering
translucent spots, as one has to soak
a long time to deglaze the pan
when the feast is over.

Commentary
Based of the title alone I found this poem kind of creepy. I guess it was because of the fact that when I think of something ending, it usually is bad. In this poem, Olds is pregnant, but her and her love interest have decided to get an abortion. It is just a weird coincidence that while they are talking about having an abortion, a deadly car crash happens on their street. From the bedroom window, Olds and her love interest can see everything that is happing. They can see the police, and even the dead victims. Olds goes on to describe the scene, and compares it to childbirth, something she won't go through if she has an abortion. The blood not only reminds her of childbirth, but also of an abortion. Based off this poem, it would seem like Olds would not be able to handle the abortion. In the beginning, she describes her and her love as killers for wanting to go through the abortion. Then later on into the poem, she speaks about cleaning up blood the next day. Where did the blood come from though? It seems as if Olds mixed either birthing or abortion with the current reality. The car crash has traumatized her, and now it seems as though the abortion may not happen. At the end of the poem, Olds cleans up blood. Blood that has mysteriously appeared. This seems to relate the that saying that "time heals all wounds" because she spent time cleaning up the blood. While the blood may be gone, the memory will still be there, just like the memory of the car crash from the night before and the memory of the child she once had after the abortion is completed.  This poem also shows how death and life go hand in hand. That couple lost their life in one quick moment, and Olds has though about ending the life of one that hasn't even began yet.