I carried a nation in my womb, Not just a child But hunger, fear, and borrowed hope. I counted coins while counting kicks, Wondering which pain would come first: Labor, Or life after it. The hospital walls were too white for my reality, Private rooms reserved for women Who never feared the word deposit. I labored on plastic beds, Among cries stitched together by poverty, Where nurses work miracles with tired hands And mothers learn strength by force. They say childbirth is na