Free the Pill Poem

1974
To being
Wed, bed,
But feeling
Oh so
Dead

Her body is
Not her own
She has paid her
Dues
Her Duty
Fulfilled
Her womb
Overfilled
She has but a
Hope
A dream
A dream of rest
But no time
For rest is she blessed with
Five more kids
Oh what blessing
What blessing?
That a mother already burdened with
Mouths to feed
Minds to grow
And hearts to soothe
But who heals her?
Who is there for her?
She hears of a Pill
A magic Pill
One to give her rest
One that gives her options
Her family options
One that means she doesn’t have to be
Bedridden
And
Homebound
One that promises
Freedom
Hope
Choice

In her own mind she starts to plan
What would she do with her time
If she had
No
More
Kids

She loves her kids
But her kids take all she has
Her time
Her love
Her patience

What if she could choose?
What if she didn’t have to have
Two under two
What do you do
Three under three
More mouths to feed
Four under four
I guess one can sleep near the door
Five under five
I just don’t know if we’ll survive

But what if five was it?
There was no more shift?
What if there was no more morning sickness
And early morning shifts of
Diaper changes
Midnight feedings
Feeling overwhelmed
Crying all alone
Climbing the walls of your home
Forced bonding
When the only bond you really need is with yourself
Where’s that help?

Help
Help comes in the form of
A small Pill
A regulation of cycles
A strengthened will
No more nine months this
‘Don’t eat that’
‘Have you tried– blank’
‘What about patting her back’
‘Breast is best’
Just rest
You’re life’s still a mess
Of kids, Of laundry,
Of cooking, Of cleaning,
But no more weaning
Off the bottle
Or wanting to throttle
Because you haven’t slept through the night
Since ‘69
And you miss your Sunday afternoons

The Pill gives you options
Choices
To focus on the kids you do have
‘Stead of worrying about the ones you dread
You love your kids
But you miss your head
The one that remembered where Johnny’s socks are
And when little Beth has piano lessons
And is Andy’s weight finally within a health range for his age group?

You love your kids
But you love yourself enough to know
Your limit;
Five is fine
But six might break you
Thank god the Pill might save you
From finding out if six is indeed too many mouths to feed

Thank you Pill.

2024
She beat the odds
She’s going to college
First generation
To not be knocked up by seventeen
Oh what a dream
Not to be mom as a teen

He beat the odds
He found his place
His family
A real family
One that doesn’t mind
His kind
Of figuring what kind
Of person he is
That loves him through
His transitional parts
Who see his whole heart
They met at a meeting
Both scared to be in such
A place
Of healing
A place they grew up hearing
‘Was wrong’
‘Immoral’
A place they both feel
Safe
Welcomed
Heard
They learn of URGE

A place they both learn of
A Pill
One with options
One with choices
One that feels like they finally
Have the voices
To own their own future
To make plans
And be safe
To decide whether
Or not
To procreate
Someday
Maybe
But not today
And that’s okay
They learn about their options
That this is
‘Not their Grandmothers’ Pill’
This Pill requires no
Medical oversight
Just a quick trip
To Google
And with the click of a few buttons…

Regulation is YOURS.
The Choice is Yours.

Oh how good it feels to know
The FDA believes in you enough
To know
When you don’t want to be pregnant,
You know yourself well enough
To know
The Pill is the choice for you.

SLP