Deciding the future in an outside loo
She had chosen this place of ruin
with its grim stains, expletive graffiti.
Feeling the cold seat beneath her
she breathed the smell of stale piss,
shit. Inside her the cells of a foetus
mocked her careless night. Elsewhere
men and women were in hot debate.
It’s a woman’s right to choose.
Only God can take a life.
I wouldn’t be here if my mum had got rid of me.
Dry, useless, crinkle of hard loo roll
wouldn’t do any kind of a job.
She wouldn’t decide which way
to vote tonight. She stood up,
flushed the toilet, scrawled
help on the wall
Pat Edwards is a writer, teacher and performer from Mid Wales. Her work has more recently been published in Prole, Magma (due summer), Ink Sweat and Tears and Deborah Alma’s #MeToo Anthology. Pat runs Verbatim poetry open mic nights and curates Welshpool Poetry Festival.
atriumpoetry.com 