Hallway

from Out With Lanterns

It happened in the hallway.
My worst scarring injury
inflicted by my own kin. 
A space between here and there. 
On the way to the room. 
In labor, they made me 
walk the halls to widen my cervix.
My knees buckling 
as I held on to hospital railings,
as I spun into the door hinge,
in that space in between 
labor and birth,
innocence and injury. 
So much takes place on the way
to the room where everything 
is said to have happened.

Photo by Alexandru Silitra on Unsplash