JUNE 25, 1955

It is a backbreaker delivery, with no knife

slipped beneath the bed to cut the pain.

In a deep-bleached cavern of beeping

machines and sterilized silver, she can’t

get loose. Her legs are strapped flat,

and men are holding down her hands.

She wails. Not from hurt, but from knowing.

There will be no running from this.

This child is a chaos she must name.