Centuries ago,Women accused of witchcraft faced, amongst other ordeals,Trial by water

Tied to a chair or run under a boatIf she survives the drowning and floatsShe’s a witch. If she dies, she’s a woman

We are not witches but if the church and state insistsThen let us be the descendants of all the witches they could not drownThis heirloom of trauma, this curse

This agony of water in order to hold agency over our bodiesNot all of us have survived, the waves do not partThere are no miracles here

When the stethoscope is a crucifix on your bellyHow do you have any choice but the waterAnd fair medical treatment on another

A body is a body is a body is a body is a body is a body is a bodyNot a house. Not a city. Not a vessel, not a countryThe laws of the church have no place on your flesh

A veterinarian will abort a calf if a cow is falling ill. How is it that livestock isworth more to this land than us

Eleven women every day leave Ireland seeking an abortion abroad.

We ask for the land over the water. Home over trial. Choice over none.For our foremothers, ourselves, the generations yet to comeWitches or women - these are our bodies which shall not be given upSarah Maria Griffin’s website