The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade ended the constitutionally protected right to abortion after nearly 50 years.
— Tumin, The New York Times
I thumb the silk bellies of our orchids,
a defaced Matisse dancing towards daylight.
Soil clings to scores of roots, ladies thwarted.
What won’t man unearth for this futile fight?
In June’s summer yawn the flushed slippers bowed.
Holy men wanting to render our plots vain,
bringing with them mealy to seize the plowed.
This war, we must warn you, will birth disdain.
Droughts have taught us how to safekeep our land,
and never again will we feed the prey.
Prepare the prophets with dirt on their hands,
the blind ones in suits herding us away.
We must drag these men to the grounds they bleed,
and bury them until our dirt gives seed.
Cleveland native Andrea Y. Rodriguez is an Afro-Latina writer based in Chicagoland. She graduated in Fall 2020 with her BA in English from Lewis University. Rodriguez is a 2023 Best of the Net Nominee, a 2023 Wolny Fellowship Recipient and has been featured in Cider Press Review, Gnashing Teeth Publishing, FEED, Jet Fuel Review, Ghost Heart Literary Journal and elsewhere. Rodriguez currently works as a Benefit and Payroll Specialist for a local school district.