On Beauty & the Wasteland - v.3/issue 1 - The Most Outrageous Thing

 On Beauty & the Wasteland

V.3 / issue 1

The Most Outrageous Thing

I spend a year and a half of my life growing and incubating organisms, cells multiplying and dividing. But this isn’t like knowing your times tables. I’m no Dr Frankenstein stitching, and these creatures are more than the sum of their parts.

I am moaning, naked on all 4s, somewhere between cat and cow and wag the dog, slowly swaying, undulating. My swell is suspended from my spine as my insides contort, transforming from a sealed incubator proofing box into a full on dilating bioportal. The midwife finds my eyes with hers and, bringing her index finger to her lips, she shushes me. “You’ll scare the other new moms.” My eyes flash red, and I bare my teeth. 

What the hell is this about? The most outrageous?

It happens every day. 

It is the most mundane thing in the world.
People fuck. 

Women give birth. 

Life happens.

Seeds sprout. 

Hairs rise on the back of my neck. 

Plants follow the sun. 
I get the chills. 

Zoologists find lone animals cloning themselves in captivity.

An altricial baby bird 
Featherless

Fallen from the nest
Stomped on by a jogger 
Skull crushed. 
Remains left for park goers 
To encounter on their morning stroll.