“A Roommate Goes Into Labor” by Juanita Rey

I helped her out of bed,

down the stairs,

and into my car.

She shrieked like hurricane wind,

screamed loud enough

to be heard in the Caribbean.

Brown talons clawed,

foreign bones dug in.

She tried tears

and her eyes broke

like her water.

“Help me!” she yelled,

as I floored the accelerator.

Two women in a car:

one uterus contracting,

two hands on wheel contracting.

Juanita Rey is a Dominican poet, US resident. Her work has been published in Mixed Mag, The Mantle, The Lincoln Review, Lion and Lilac amongst others.