a found poem
COSMO ASKS 18 WOMEN
TO DESCRIBE CHILDBIRTH
This feeling is permanent, like someone else has taken over. Look for a way to escape your own body.
Stephanie Pritchard
Hours have passed. Pushing a baby feels like hot peppers: pressure breath pressure pain I was dying. I could do this every day. You can’t tell the difference. A twist against my spine like fire, a forceful push from inside and hours have passed. Abdominal muscles seize, a pause before the rest crawls out of my skin, bone-on-bone as their heads grind through the birth canal. Remember this moment: a shake. a knock. I left my body. I lost my mind. 26
