"What is poetry for?" A stimulating academic environment must include science, mathematics, and history in order to be fully comprehensive in educating our society. Many question the importance of poetry included in these other fields of study and whether it is really necessary. Obviously math, science, etc. they are crucial to understanding the facts and logic that explain the world around us. However, understanding all of these aspects without trying to understand the emotions and feelings surrounding life around us seems to detract from the main reason we strive to learn. Poetry achieves this level of understanding by allowing us to truly experience life through the emotions and experiences of others. In her poem “The Mother,” Gwendolyn Brooks examines the pain associated with abortion. The poem is a journey of rationalization for a woman trying to come to terms with her own guilt and the ghosts of her unborn children. Even if it seems like he can't, it is certain that he is trying to make peace with his children. If not for them, for herself. The first line of the poem is the first sign that the poet is suffering from the guilt associated with abortion. Although Brooks speaks in the second person in this first section of the poem, it is clear that she is referring to herself. You feel the weight of guilt in remembering "the little moist meatballs with little or no hair." He even imagines them growing up as "singers" and "workers" who never had the opportunity to handle air. He continues in this way, imagining in his mind calming a child who is scared of ghosts and also contemplating the idea of ​​leaving the child for any reason and returning to them hungry, devouring him with a mother's eye. The second part of the poem becomes more personal as Brooks switches to the first person, seeming more capable of facing the reality of what he has done. The poem also moves from what he imagined to what he actually experienced. “I have heard…the voices of my weak slain sons” is a gripping phrase that the poet cannot seem to escape. Halfway through the poem, Brooks begins to speak to his unborn children, which is another reason why the reader is led to believe that Brooks suffers from what he has done to them..