In the Aftermath of Roe

My shoulders haven’t lost tension in the last 58 hours since I discovered

that my womanhood and her glory are now disempowered.

Nothing in my near twenty four years has scared me more

than the inclusion of church and state knocking at my body’s door.

I now have to set aside my life and desires to follow the lines of your faith -

even though my choices never forced you into the same race.

I’ve never given a damn about your religion

until your religion was melted down to a poison-tipped weapon.

What story, at your end, will you knit together for God to believe

that these women’s stories weren’t preventable tragedies?

Thanks to you, I’m scrambling to contend in the battle at my doctor’s office

to at least have a few years of not fearing being nauseous. 

Or maybe I’ll only hold my partner in my mouth instead of my center,

for when it comes to feeling ready, the government is now the richest vendor.

In future years, when society deems me at my prime,

I still can’t guarantee my safety under these laws’ grime.

Because when I only partially miscarry at, say, twelve weeks?

I’ll go to jail to get help unless I’m near death, begging and lying at your feet.

But never mind what happens in my personal bedroom.

What happens in the expanse of the world’s roof?

Never again will women walk alone at night

because a man’s disgusting choice in power still won’t give them their rights.

Did you think about the young girl suffering as her uncle’s favorite toy?

Her life, by your standards, will simply be destroyed.

I suppose it won’t matter if a child goes hungry

as long as it comes out, screaming, unaware, and lovely.

What will you do when it happens to your nieces, your daughters, or wives?

Don’t you dare act as if these laws were a surprise.

Oh, I’m sure your mistresses will get the attention

they need, if for nothing else than to uphold your reputation.

Are you proud of the protection you think you’re providing?

Your moral high ground and brutality are quickly colliding.

Why does protecting my choices and my health make me a criminal?

My fear for it all, as a woman, is now terminal.