Roe Boat

The state cannot dictate

What a woman,

What any one,

Does with their body.

-

Protect the right to choose!

Protect Roe v. Wade.

-

-

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

Sing to the babies!

Lullabies for the long journey ahead —

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream…

-

Oh look, an inlet!

Oh no, rivulets

Run red down Mary’s legs.

Twisted wire gnarls upon an implanted —

Copperhead thread.

Snakes save lives,

Two prongs spread,

Anti-venom.

Until they’re struck, or stuck.

“Oh fuck,”

She snarls, a silent scream.

Row, row, row your boat,

Life is but a dream.

-

Mary Lee! Mary Lee!

Sing Psalms to the sepsis sufferers,

Being dead doesn’t upend their

Judgement; their hearing is just fine.

The row boat floats,

Down, down, down

The stream.

Merrily, merrily,

Mary Lee?

Life is but a dream.

©Kira Mungai, 2022.