{"id":1770,"date":"2021-05-18T09:01:33","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T14:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thespectaclstg.wpengine.com\/?p=1770"},"modified":"2023-02-15T19:11:55","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T01:11:55","slug":"1770","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/?p=1770","title":{"rendered":"Poetry by Rachel Galvin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"single-box clearfix entry-content\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<div class=\"poemscroll\" style=\"font-family: Georgia;\">\n<h4>Well No One Ever Said Breeding Was Easy<\/h4>\n<div>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>A Braided Abecedarian<\/em><\/div>\n<pre style=\"font-family: Georgia;\"> \n&nbsp;\n&nbsp;\nAttempted for years to have a child \ngave up, adopted a child, got pregnant   \n              \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Zipping your lips is what they call it  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;when you pretend it doesn\u2019t hurt \n \nBudgeted for four rounds of IVF \nhad three miscarriages, one healthy baby  \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;You should just adopt, people said \n \nCeased taking depression meds  \nto do fertility treatments and grew suicidal  \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;X-rays are what they call it when they squirt you full  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;of iodine to check your tubes \n \nDelivered a stillborn baby, then miscarried \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Wage gap is what they call it when women make 77 cents  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;for every dollar earned by men  \n \nEclampsia is what they call the seizures  \nthat land her in the hospital in her 8th month  \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Visa officers block pregnant women at the border  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;for fear of what they call anchor babies   \n \nFroze six embryos just in case \nthen got pregnant by accident  \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Uterine cancer is what they call it  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;when you\u2019re exposed to toxic chemical waste   \n \nGeriatric mother is what they call you  \nwhen you are pregnant over 35 \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Transvaginal probes are what they put inside you  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;when you seek an abortion in 20 states \n \nHad an abortion, had an abortion, had a miscarriage \n\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Senile vaginitis is what they call it\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;when you\u2019re in menopause\n \nI lost at least one book, maybe one and a half \nto raising my kids, she said \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ran a marathon while bleeding freely \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;blood staining her leggings \n \nJust got home from the hospital with her newborn  \nwhen her wife left her \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Quit her job, dropped off each kid  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;with a different relative, and drove away\t\n \nKept trying, kept trying, kept trying, kept trying \nkept trying, kept trying, kept trying \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Pregnancy wastage is what they wrote on her chart \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;meaning her baby was stillborn   \n \nLaughed out loud when she discovered she was pregnant at fifty \n  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Other women were her main source of information  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;about what to do   \n \nMarried for fifteen years and can\u2019t convince her husband  \nto have a child \n \t\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Not expecting her period, she wadded up toilet paper  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;in her panties but still bled through her pants  \n \nNever wanted to have kids and she\u2019s now stepmother to three \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mother made her sleep in the cow shed until her period was over \n \nOvaries were hyperstimulated by IVF drugs  \nand she gained 15 pounds in a week \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Luxury items are how tampons and pads are classified  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;for taxes in 33 states  \n \nPretended everything was just swell  \nas she miscarried during a job interview \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Keeps quiet when people call him the mother  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;even though he birthed their baby after transitioning \n \nQuestioned her choice to have a child aloud  \nand to strangers in bars for years  \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Jails and prisons in the U.S. force women to work 21 hours  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;for a box of pads, 27 hours for a box of tampons \n \nResolved to have a baby on her own  \nand met a new partner while seven months pregnant \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Incompetent cervix or inadequate pelvis  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;is what they called it \n \nSuffered through the loss of one twin in utero \nthe second lived in the ICU for a year \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hostile uterus is what they call it  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;when your body blocks sperm like a champ \n \nTold no one she was pregnant, not even her partner \nuntil the abortion was over \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Good news, it hurts like hell, but I swear  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;you won\u2019t even remember it later  \n \nUsed a donated egg and smiles every time someone says her son looks like her \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fair practice is what they call it when she doesn\u2019t get promoted  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;because they think she might have another child  \n \nVacuuming the eggs out of her ovaries hurt more than expected \nwaking after the retrieval \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Exhausted by people mistaking her for the nanny  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;because she and her son don\u2019t have the same skin color \n \nWhy don\u2019t you just adopt? people asked \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Decided to give up her newborn for adoption  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;because she wanted to finish high school \n \nX-rays of her fallopian tubes hurt more than expected \nreturning to work after the procedure \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;C-sections mean the doctor gets paid more \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and he\u2019s done in an hour \n \nYou should think about just adopting \npeople advised \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bought food but no tampons this month  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;because she was too broke \n \nZygotes are overrated \nsays her friend with no kids \n \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Adoption isn\u2019t an option, she can\u2019t opt to adopt  \n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;because she\u2019s broke, too broke\n<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<hr>\n<p>Rachel Galvin\u2019s books include <em>Elevated Threat Level<\/em>, a finalist for the National Poetry Series, and <em>Pulleys &amp; Locomotion<\/em>. She is the translator of Raymond Queneau\u2019s <em>Hitting the Streets<\/em>, which won the 2014 Scott Moncrieff Prize, and co-translator of <em>Decals: Complete Early Poetry\u202fby Oliverio Girondo<\/em>, a finalist for the 2019 National Translation Award.\u202fHer work appears in <em>Best American Experimental Writing 2020, Best American Poetry 2020, Boston Review, Colorado Review, Fence, Gulf Coast, McSweeney\u2019s, The Nation, The New Yorker, PN Review,<\/em> and <em>Poetry<\/em>. She teaches at the University of Chicago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well No One Ever Said Breeding Was Easy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[78],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}