S/He Speaks 3: Voices of Women, 
Trans & Nonbinary Folx
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Et Tu?  

Should I tell a new mother
to keep her previous life intact? 
To be strong? To keep on her path?
No. No. I don’t think so. 
I’d say to her, look, you’ve gone and done it – 
you let this child rip you open. 
You turned your life over 
to their constant care—but don’t worry. 
You’ll develop legs and feet
made strong from running down sidewalks 
to their pre-school, then elementary school, 
then middle school, then high school 
where there’s never enough parking for parents 
and you’ll have to park at Ralph’s and hoof it
(arm pits sweating, lipstick chewed off) 
for blocks!
Just to sit in a darkened audience
and watch them— a gap-toothed Brutus
in Julius Caesar—as they walk the stage
with a confidence you’ve never seen before. 
Your throat will tighten like a bicep, 
your heart will expand so much 
you’ll have to go up a bra size. 
Even your hair will frizz in delight. 
True, you’ll look like a disaster area—but I swear
you won’t care. 
Fed by these potent doses
of love and awe, you’ll find yourself
on a path you never saw 
on any map, in a forest so saturated
with oxytocin 
that you won’t care
what road you were on
or where you were headed 
in the first place.

— Ani Martin
(Published June 2025)