Emma's poem: Before and After

Picture above shows Bra with Holes (2026) ceramic with glaze by Emma Hunter. Image courtesy of Bethlem Gallery.

Before and After

Artist, teacher, lover, friend, sister, daughter
big bump, two babies
Two nights on steroids for two x two lungs that might need it. early delivery.
Two babies, one here one there
An hour apart, two hospitals
Two boobs
Two cut holes in bra to fit plastic suction pump through
Two am breast milk, best milk, expressed
Two bottles to be given
Two legs up, cotton wool, water, wipe
Two swollen feet, kankles, sandals with straps that flap
Boulders
Hospitals, meetings, machines
lights flashing, do do do dodo, numbers up
numbers down, air
grasshoppers, kicky, she's hungry get her on
I can't, bottle
watch, pump, try again, and again And again
I can do this
Air I need air
I am a mother, a mother
keep going
I'm a mother
two babies
a mother
I'm in a hospital now, my daughter's hospital?
helps coming
keep going
prison?
no, back home
I consent for someone else to consent
I am a mother
I am a baby?