You speak of unwanted pregnancies

You tell of the sanctity of life

The ways that we must protect a fetus

Every life is wanted

Is destined

By and from a creator

But you don’t want the life

The moment it becomes a burden

The moment you are asked to share, to care, to change things

You object

You imagine faults

Something is “wrong”

Choices are “bad”

“Consequences”

“You made your bed, now lie in it”

But my bed wasn’t made on my own

I carry burdens

The burdens my mother placed upon me

The burdens from my brother

From my partner

From my husband

From my Sunday school teacher

From the girls on the playground

From the boys who “will be boys”

From the ones who harmed and terrorized and took advantage

From the economy

From the society I grew up into

From the global condition

I carry and I carry

Burden upon burden

And you refuse to carry any of that weight

Your burdens I carry

My burdens you heap back upon me

Until I am crushed

Disability, poverty, single-parenting, hunger, need

All my “fault” and “responsibility”

The moment I ask you to care

To share

So don’t lie to yourself

The moment any life imposes upon you

The moment any life becomes a burden

You don’t want it

Millions of lives

Unwanted