I can feel
the warmth of
a new
blaze,
a small flame
that's been
lit
between us.

Not you, nor I,
not a fire with
out the other
dissolving, slowly,
the wick

if a small fire that needs nurtured is
what love is,
then call my hands
a governess to
always nurse
the burn
of new love's
flush

as long as you're
reddened in the smoke-
path, then my darling,
this is fine
by me.

when i see the foods
folded into little smiles
i remember how my okaasan packed my lunch every day for three months
and how we never talk anymore
and that bittersweet soba
makes me sad

it is no secret
i am the women in the grocery store with a skirt too short that mommies warn you about
i am hot venom and warm beer and blood from your forehead
i am angry
and i have earned this wrath
i am angry
and i will use it to move mountains
i am angry
and every man who has ever ground their boots into my broken ankles, any man who dares speak my name with anything other than reverence or good humor, and man who tried to stand before me
had best watch their ******* backs
i am a bull with you in the corner of the pen
and i will rip out your ******* guts
and you will feel me for all i am all at once and be no more
i will show you who i am
and i will build bridges out of you