In the River

This prose poem explores a nonbinary and transmasculine experience with total hysterectomy salpingectomy/ooporectomy as a gender-affirming procedure as well as treatment for stage four endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and multiple fibroids. In addition, it discusses ancestral lines, namely matrilineal afflictions with ovarian disease and corrective partial hysterectomies. It draws connections between nonbinary identity and transmasculinity and cisgender womanhood and motherhood. The piece uses symbolism to discuss death, grief, dysphoria, and pain to address the lived reality of transition, the death of a mother and the death of a body.