If Mary Said No

What if Mary said no

said thanks but no thanks

childbirth really isn’t on my agenda

it’s not compatible with my career goals

and besides

this is no great deal

nine months of bearing

the sacred weight

twenty-four hours of excruciating labor

years of persecution

followed by a life of mourning

and beatitude expressing itself

in millions of cheap blue-robed

plaster of paris statues

and a few transcendent faces

by Raphael.