mother of wild | dangerous woman
static and prickled
you live on the edge of your skin
and I’ve been lost inside my ribs for years with
a mouth full of blood and rage
but then I followed breadcrumb kisses
to the surface of the sun
and I thought I was a moon, a body
to reflect your light
until you held my face to the mirror
so I could see we
were both stars
all angel and ruin
tell me this story again with
your lips against mine
supernova
you are not here and you are not there
you are ethereal, strung up between stars
are you stuck painfully? or comfortably settled?
i do not know, i cannot reach you
i imagine you thriving in the elsewhere
i have to or i will die
it is too much to bear
thinking of you without me
as i am without you
daughter
daughter
daughter
can you hear the sobs rattling my bones
i am sorry darling
they are all that i have
for how long have you
held your breath, love?
pull taut your soft parts
full marks
how much oxygen has been
barred from your blood, love?
embers held
in prison cell lungs
by their eyes, love?
this death they
have chosen for you
agonizing
and poised
breathe, love
for the love of god just
breathe
i was made
for the
spaces
in
between
there is something
in my marrow
an energy that hums
and rattles
my
bones
my bird song is
one
of
tension
the long stretch
from catalyst to
resolution as it
hangs
in
the air
it is messy
and it is dark
but i am not alone
and this is where i have found peace
you see, it takes the sun eight minutes
and thirty seconds
to reach the earth and
it is within this lightspeed that we
find each other
or
sometimes
crash
bruised and battered we find
desperate relief in the clinging
we are bleeding but still
very
much
alive
I wanted to be a rose
Velvet petals and teasing thorns
Delicate and easy to hold
I am willow tree breasts
And thighs like galaxies
A sand dune belly
Siren call hips
And sea storm eyes
I am soft in all of the right
And wrong places
Nobody thought
To give my body a map
I wanted to be a rose
But I am devasting
And cannot be wrapped in cellophane
i am plush
and easily broken, warmed butter woman
instead of hardening i will simply grow taller
though my muddy toes splay and sprawl into damp earth
cloud bottoms tickle my palms and wind dances between my elbows
i grin at the stars and my fingertips reach
reach reach clear across the universe
sunflower girl, vulnerable and untouchable
your first mistake was not realizing i could be both
