My Name Is Leslie Ann Levine

the same uncle who recently committed suicide has a brother.

this brother has a daughter named Angel.

Angel is 14 years old.

A few days ago, Angel gave birth to a 2lb baby.

Angel's father did not know until two days before the birth. Angel had managed to keep the pregnancy a secret for 6 months. Not once did she see a doctor.

As far as I know, the baby is still alive.



what has the world come to?

she isn't even in high school yet.

i don't know the circumstances.
i don't know if she hooks up with random guys.
i don't know if she has a boyfriend.
i don't know if she was raped.

i just wish she would have told someone.
it isn't fair to the baby.



until this moment, I have not had an opinion on the abortion debate. It was one of the few things I honestly did not know where I stood on it.

but I do now.

Angel is too young to be a responsible mother.
This is no mystery.
That's life.

There is no way that this baby could have been born healthy unless she changed her mind and got help.
She couldn't do it alone.

Why should the baby have to pay for her mistake?

If I knew I could have saved that baby a life of medical problems and pain, I would have.

When an old person knows they are going to die, they just wish it would happen already. Why delay the inevitable? Why let the baby be born, suffer and then be sick for the rest of it's (short) life?



my name is leslie ann levine
my mother birthed me down a dry revine
my mother birthed me far too soon
born at nine and dead at noon

fifteen years gone now
i still wander this parapet
and shake my rattle bone
fifteen years gone now
i still cling to the petticoats
of the girl who died with me