America, America
Do you feel free?
I’ll tell you what freedom means to me
Freedom is the choice to do what I want with my body
America, America
I know you can relate
You too have suffered
Violations of late
America, you know the trauma of violence
Violence like my childhood
I survived it the best that I could
It wasn’t easy, America
Loud explosions of anger
Showered down upon my head
Hidden within the deep silence of neglect
I wished that I was dead
America, that upbringing
Taught me just one thing;
How to feel afraid
Long after the violence ceases to sting
America, I am still too afraid to say ‘no’
You can imagine how this created problems as I started to grow
I knew only how to please
So I had unwanted sex
That lead to unwanted pregnancy
That’s how that goes
When you don’t have birth control
America, you gave me hope
When I received health insurance even though I was poor
Insurance that would have covered my whole pregnancy and the birth of my baby
Who could ask for anything more?
But America, I didn’t want to be pregnant or have a child
After all, my own life is still quite wild
It seems an ill choice to bring a baby into this world
When my own ability to make ends meet has yet to unfurl
I thought that since my health insurance would’ve covered the pregnancy
Asking it to pay for an abortion would be a relief
A relief for my body, my future and a relief for the insurance company
Because an abortion costs a tiny fraction of the price of having a baby, and at a much smaller health risk than childbirth, America
But my insurance refused to cover even one penny of the fee
and the ‘Powers That Be’ maliciously made me suffer through bureaucracy; waiting and watching a ridiculous video that delayed for more than a week
the medical treatment of which I was in desperate need
America, have you ever been pregnant when you didn’t want to be?
Have you ever felt so exhausted that you were incapacitated from doing anything?
Have you ever been nauseous all day and all night?
Have you ever had your sense of smell so heightened that you felt suffocated by the stink of misogynistic bullshit?
America, I begged and scraped to pay for my abortion
The abortion was painful and bloody and rushed
Just another American day
America, I think we need to have a heart-to-heart talk
Abortion saved my life
Thanks to my abortion, I am now free
I am free from an abusive relationship
I am free from a pregnancy that I didn’t want to keep
I am free from having a baby when I wasn’t ready
America, how could I not feel hurt by your bias?
You would have given me full support if I kept my pregnancy,
yet no support at all when I chose to end it This made me feel like you did not respect my life, my body or my autonomy
It put me in dire financial straits For which I am still washing the dishes
But I’m grateful that the choice was mine to make
America, I too have a dream
That one day
Women will have abortion services
Covered by their health insurance
As much as any other reproductive health care
America, we can do better
America, I want every woman to have
The right to decide what she wants to do with her body
Women are more than baby-growing machines to be controlled by others
Women are people too
And we have something to tell you:
Keep abortion legal
Keep abortion safe
Let women choose what to do with their bodies
Let Freedom Ring
Sage Burner Poetry 