leporiform
in 1726 Mary Toft began birthing
rabbits or rather rabbit parts, floppy
pink torsos and little bald legs,
sharp nails intact. Mary miscarried
her fetus, story says, chasing after a rabbit,
her ensuing fascination so strong that
rabbits too started slipping from her
in half-dreamed pieces. now
it’s assumed her husband helped
put the dead rabbit pieces inside her,
where she would hold them for weeks
and weeks at a time. seventeen leporine
miracles. ten royal surgeons peering
into her mystery. the whole country
burrowing. she is whisked away
to a bathhouse outside London
for observation. now it’s assumed
Mary first miscarried because peasants
were forced to till the hop fields
all pregnancy long. Mary at rest
only in labor. Mary half-expecting
the kits to nuzzle their way out alive.
three human babies wailing for her
back home, their horrible faces the same
color as the insides of their mouths.
Mary who cannot choose where to pin
the life her body conjures. this is
a prayer for every body bearing
against its will: may what lives
dart free of you, off into the field.
PERRY LEVITCH'S poetry can be found in the Columbia Review, pigeon pages, the Rappahannock Review, hooligan mag, and more. They are a Pushcart Prize nominee and a Best of the Net nominee. They have an MFA from NYU, where they were a poetry editor of Washington Square Review.