Kate MacAlister
ritual: how to plot an abortion
“I remember standing in front of the train station sometime in the mid-1970s and handing out leaflets. At the time, this very doctor had been shot, and everyone was afraid that the file with the names of his patients would now be found.” - Dora
1. whisper. for witches are never silent.
but whisper: of the woman
who was once regarded a factory to good
society. whisper of the woman who
was never here.
2. steal. what you can.
specula
upper blade, lower blade,
sharpen your courage, soften your voice.
cannulae, also soft. flexible.
disinfectant. rinse off everything men called holy .
3. give. Everything give. nothing
whatever is available
more or less suitable:
a bicycle pump, a picknick
basket full secrets clattering,
dried kelp. trust
4. wash hands. hold
hands. move across
the sternum and symphysis
take good measure. centimetres last weeks
5. push down gently, locate the fundus,
gently palpate, seek out the cradle
of her fathers dirty looks, her mother’s gasping, the ruin on her breath
humiliation. Leave both of these
outside, at the door.
#witchesbelike 7
6. stand. next to the bed. wait.
for the sign. open
and pump. gentle suction - release
the tissue into the glassbottle
waves of blushed seafoam
and listen. the scratching, grave sound
of letting go.
7. feel out the emptiness, the complete waters
exorcise the spectre of guilt against the
light of the cave once again
and watch it bloom
into choice
into life
8. Leave advice and comfort but not yourself- remember
the coathangers, the knitting needle,
chicken bones, soft bodies crashing
down the stairs and out of windows.
the bloodrush verdict
running down all our thighs.
the personal is political
when my cunt is public property.
9. remember this
is the simplest, hardest thing to do
support every outcome of pregnancy
the wicked women are not going
anywhere
they will always send us
back to the shadows
Kate MacAlister is a poet, medic, and feminist activist whose work interrogates language, embodiment, and resistance. She is the founder of Stimmen der Rebellion/Dengê Berxwedane/Voices of Rebellion, a multilingual community arts and literature project for women and genderqueer people. Her award-winning poetry films explore the intersections of ecology, narrative, and defiance, framing storytelling as both a site of connection and a radical act. A graduate of the Manchester Writing School under Carol Ann Duffy, she is now undertaking a PhD in Creative Writing and Medical Humanities at the University of Nottingham on the female body as anti-patriarchal resistance. Her poetry collections are published by Querencia Press and Sunday Mornings at the River.
