Wax Poetic by Julia Johnson

I’m watching petals fall one by one at an accelerating pace. 

The metaphor a little too literal as Roe v Wade becomes Red v Any person holding a uterus in their pelvis

I’m receding and regressing to a place where I felt safe. I don’t feel safe.

The wet eyes of every woman who can see themselves in every woman are staring back.

Another petal falls.

I cleaned them all up an hour ago. The handfuls of red. 

But they keep falling. 

I can’t reach for them fast enough. 

I want to shake the stem to see how many will fall

But we already know who will fall

It won’t be the elitist white wives of Supreme Court justices.

I looked down for a minute and back up.

There are more petals in piles now.

I didn’t hear or see them fall

But they did

Tomorrow when I wake up

They might even all be gone