Here I stand at the
end of this day,
my right to choose
stripped away.

I feel exposed. Unsafe.
Bombarded with
lousy excuses about
babies and life,

just to take my freedom.
I wept when they aired it,
even with warning,
unprepared for the

sinking feeling
I had to hide
while I watched my kids
celebrate the end of

theatre camp
with their play.
They did amazing.
But the whole time,

all I could think about was
how they deserve better.