AC Leming

BIRTH PAINS

Born into a new body at twelve,
this time I remember the pain.

Writhing on the backseat
while my mother and brother

panic as I scream until my voice
disappears, taken by the same

blood clot which stole my legs,
my lungs, and left my fingers

forever slack on the armrests
of my wheelchair. A machine

breathes for me. A tube pees
for me. All alone, I await the dark

to slip my mind from me, too.

AC Leming participates in Poem-a-Day Challenges (Poetic Asides blog) and has attempted NaNoWriMo four times. "Birth Pains" is from her unpublished chapbook The Real Bionic Woman, inspired by her cousin Abrey. She grew up in the Alaskan Bush, has a black belt in Karate and works toward one in jiujitsu.