Because You Watched
Medical drama reruns keep killing
moms in childbirth – leaving bewildered
fathers to juggle their newborns & cry
cinematically. Sometimes as a treat
they’ll wait until later – first solo drive
postpartum – selfish haircut – spilled latte –
airbags – broken glass. Cue bewildered dad
mixing formula.
It landed different
before Dobbs – before I could envision
bleeding in a Texas ER bathroom
waiting for the hospital attorneys
to finish their calculus. Back when most
narratives only needed forty-two
minutes – exclusive of commercial breaks.
Julia Ross (she/her) is an emerging poet and educator living in Austin, TX. She writes about parenthood, agnosticism, art & music, and the sociopolitical hellscape known as Texas. Recently, her writing has appeared in The New Verse News, The Marbled Sigh, About Place Journal, and elsewhere.
The Marbled Sigh 