No Words Exist (Why They’re Afraid of Us)

Origin Story

“I was at a birth recently and thought: This is why they are so afraid of us. They can’t control this” She sat on her couch with a mug of coffee. She is a queer, femme, mother of two who has worked in reproductive health for over two decades, first in abortion care and now as a doula for all, including queer and non-binary families, through the pregnancy spectrum. She has personally experienced birth, miscarriage, hysterectomy and surgical menopause.

“At some level, they [cis men and politicians who are creating and upholding anti-woman, anti-queer, anti-trans, and anti-abortion laws] understand that they don’t belong in this space [of birthing, abortion, miscarriage…]. This is not for them.”

When asked what the most important thing was to be in her poem, she said “there is no language for the most important things,” then listed all the intangible, joyful, astonishing, and awe-inspiring things for which no words exist.

Julia McDonald, Listener Poet
HYSTERIOGRAPHY: Poems about Uteruses, Menstruation, Pregnancy, Abortion, Loss, and Childbirth
Featured at Listening Together: Poems from a Year of Conversations 2025

By Julia McDonald, Listener Poet

No words exist for the most important things:
We can grow a life, make a placenta
from our ancient DNA recipe card
without attending a specialized school.

No words exist for most important things:
We can feed a baby with our body
and do it again and again and again,
giving without withering or lessening.

No words exist for important things:
the center of the universe is in us:
G-d, spirit, something ethereal
and entirely ordinary. Pregnancy.

No words exist for things:
the deep, guttural growl
transitioning from active to pushing
connected to a power within.

No words exist:
the placenta comes away,
the uterus knows to
staunch its own wound.

No words:
that howl of relief and grief
after abortion, when they don’t
have to be pregnant anymore

Words:
Magic
Miracle
Superpower

It’s why they’re afraid of us.
It is not for them, this sacred holy space.
This is our power.

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No Words Exist (Why They’re Afraid of Us)

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