whatever you want to call me is fine

Say: aren’t you interested in having children?
I could never imagine not getting a period.

Say: it only lasts five years, but I can take it out any time I like.
Don’t say - I like it like this

Don’t mention pregnant – rolls in your mouth 
like rotted melon &

woman bleeds thick ribbons, 
expands like a waxing crescent.

Don’t say you got a device, that isn’t a magic wand, sure,
but isn’t not 

a magic wand - 
an incantation against milk & cleave & cry.

I can get it out any time I like.

Pull out she, try on they. 
Tell them - 

listen: the hollow of the “E”
doesn’t change

and when light breaks on my kitchen table,
it births

H. Lee Coakley (they/she) is a queer poet & nutritional healer currently based in Brooklyn, NY. They hold a BA from New York University and an MSPH from Johns Hopkins University. Their work has been featured in The Lavender Review, Utterance Journal, Red Eft Review, The Voices Project, Blueshift Anthology and The Mad Farmer Reading Series. Follow them on Instagram: @pandowellness

Artwork by Simone Hadebe