For Redacted by Daire Shaw

           For Redacted

I have never needed an abortion
I have been lucky, very lucky
I was pregnant at the wrong time
By the wrong man but I was lucky

Though there was no morning saviour 
Then, I knew that I could choose to
Keep or stop the sprouting thing that
Let alone would change my life forever

I was lucky to have a choice to make
Or at least I was close enough to a
Place whose choice and open-to-me
Borders I could borrow, and I did

Later I sat in a small white room
With a nervous spotty boy who
Asked me questions and I lied
Through my clenched teeth

I signed my lies to swear the truth 
And that I knew the consequences
To spare a young girl his questions
And weeks later, I did that again

In a different room with a different
Strange man with a nametag I signed
My lies and took the two small pills 
I made them illegal giving them over

To her and holding her hand while she
Shook and turned green on my couch
Because she was not lucky
And I’ll be damned

If she doesn’t get a choice

​

Dáire Shaw is a queer Irish multimedia woman artist from Wicklow, Ireland. She works primarily across art, photography and poetry, and is currently pursuing an honours degree as a mature student in art photography at the Institute of Art, Design & Technology, (IADT) Dunlaoghaire, Ireland.  Dáire is deeply interested in exploration of the human condition at its intersection with meaning through art and symbolism. On a personal level Dáire uses her art in an attempt to understand herself and the interstices she shares with the world she finds around her. Dáire lives in Wicklow with her daughter, Ruby Rose, two small dogs, Sadie and Penelope Tuppence, and a calico cat named Clementine Clover Murderpaws.

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