Speech

After Victoria Chang

After the abortion,
I peed positive on a stick.

The doctor’s movie screen projected
my story without beginning—
She was ship sunk
to the bottom of my belly.

Water-torn, still.

The Catholics say, Call for a second chance.
Anti-abortion media advertises pill reversal.
I looked into all of it.

Someone named Mary left a voicemail on my phone.
Hi, Lily, When you’re ready to heal…
She hosted a discussion group in the evening.

Was I a disciple? Of discipline, or form?
Choice, or beauty?

Evening didn’t work.

Lily Andrews is a creative writer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is an MFA in Writing candidate at Sarah Lawrence College. Her work has been published in Rio Grande Review. She lives in NYC and volunteers as a nonfiction editor at Variant Lit.