Explaining myself
is an privilege
and I do not owe it to anyone
not even the ravaged girl
born of glass and mirrors
whose cutting stare picks me apart
even from the realm
of reflections and lies.
Esther L. Krenzin

I am becoming
awakening
stirring the flames that I subdued for you
cultivating the embers
that ate away at my innards

When did I allow
my fangs to produce honey
when venom was what I needed
to stand up for myself?

Too long I’ve tarried
in the shadows
shedding one skin only to don another
caught between a disguise of who I am
and who they want me to be

Esther L. Krenzin

Placed in earth
corroded with poison
they expect me to bloom
as the other flowers do.
Esther L. Krenzin
Roguesong

I'll crumble to dust
if you lean on me
any longer
I am but an sapling
that was forced to grow
before its time
a flower that bloomed
out of season
and withered before it
could blossom.
Esther L. Krenzin
Roguesong

Cave in
my heart
in the end that's all you are good for
come loose at the seams
fray and splinter
fall through my fingers
that failed to hold on
failed to protect you
when it was needed most.

Esther L. Krenzin
RogueSong

Hold me up
I can't stand on my own
don't let me down
when I need you now.

Esther L. Krenzin
Roguesong

I fear I am an wallflower
ethereal
pianissimo to your fortissimo
head bowed
malleable as clay
molding
stretching
shaping my tongue to be silent

You took the beast within and
removed it's claws
it's fangs
any defense it had
I smiled all the while
baring the pink of my gums
the shade of welts
and a soft flowers bloom

To you, I am the wrong note
in a roaring crescendo of a
symphony
nevertheless, stirring embers come to rest
in the corners of my mouth
and I like them.