Jack Yesner Week 9 - "A Doctrine of Clock" by Anna Leahy

 In Anna Leahy’s poem “A Doctrine of Clock”, she shares some aspects of life as a woman. The ‘clock’ Leahy refers to in the title is the biological clock of fertility and motherhood. The decision of pursuing motherhood is extremely tough because on one hand having a child is very difficult and a major responsibility, but for every second “waste[d]” in the decision, fertility wanes. This thought process is destructive to women’s lives, who have to choose whether to prioritize personal success or familial growth. 

Towards the conclusion of her poem, Leahy broadens the idea of female fertility to relationships in general with an allusion to a slang phrase. The phrase, “she needs to be at least half his age plus seven”, is an unofficial qualification for an age gap in a relationship. Since the male is not biologically restricted from children at an older age, typically they are the older partner in the relationship. Leahy implies that this societal tendency is not right. Just because a woman cannot have a child in old age while a man can, it does not mean that an age gap or imbalanced relationship is justified.

The last sentence, “she’s a chronometer; she will not be moved by fractions” marks a shift from the gloomy outlook of the rest of the poem. Leahy wants women to know that every person is different, and what may happen biologically over time varies widely from person to person. In turn, this means that there is no one way to live life. In the modern era, women have had children at a later age, and there is no reason why that is a bad thing. Women now receive valuable education and can make informed decisions about their fertility. Biology shouldn’t rule over women's lives: women have the capability to rule over their own biology.

The woman’s body clocks her. Life’s a story problem, so she paces. She can’t decide whether she’s rushing at the forthcoming or it’s rushing at her. That decision periodically lays waste, and she ends up counting. Everything can’t happen at once, and the idea of epoch frustrates her. Fertility (1) is one of many chicken-and-egg dilemmas. Her dog shakes its tail twice. 

Wait just a minute for all eternity. Jot an instant on the calendar. She needs to be at least half his age plus seven. (2) Her fertility (3) will halve itself in a decade. She’s a chronometer; she will not be moved by fractions.

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