I Never Wanted To Be a Mother

pews of velcro Sunday flats little girls in plaits and jean dresses arms folded heads bowed fluttering eyes from under lashes peeking towards blackgrayblue Brothers in their suits upon the stand Father, Son, and Spirit prose in archaic english dictating lives loves loss Priesthood power ladies in cushioned folding chairs swollen ankles crossed the sacred womb preserved bodies for creation shoulder to knee painted into the coat of many colors squalling babes in arms too diminutive for motherhood pre-pubescent hips pre-prepared for human polyps homemaking lessons for middle schoolers babysitting a gateway drug for force-fed doctrines and unhappy marriages a girl’s purpose and duty