Art by Steven Johnson
Fetal Protection Policy
Alicia Wright
There’s a choice, or not:
nettled breath, a grit-
burned throat.
The pulse of it swelling
behind the ribs. Say:
you carry it with you, say
nailbeds blue-rimmed;
the heart comes early,
comes swimming,
a bloom wide-open.
Say it grows teeth,
vines umbilical. Or
a foreclosure.
Or thread the needle
to tighten the knot.
Alicia Wright
There’s a choice, or not:
nettled breath, a grit-
burned throat.
The pulse of it swelling
behind the ribs. Say:
you carry it with you, say
nailbeds blue-rimmed;
the heart comes early,
comes swimming,
a bloom wide-open.
Say it grows teeth,
vines umbilical. Or
a foreclosure.
Or thread the needle
to tighten the knot.