she listens
watching
assumption on their faces
but a fool she's not
her mind
thunderstorms in the summer
pounding hear
the intensity too much
tears well
and the music
vibrates
ears
her most potent line of defense
drowning out the past
mistakes in judgment
a rear view mirror
caked in the blood of battle
that no man dare accept
hands and nails blackened by the soil
and raw
heart like a brillo pad
frightened by the wash of emotion
never the right time to cry
holding onto the moments
praying for the solitude
found only among the trees
places where she's fallen on
knees softened by the earth's surface
birds fleeing from the highest perches
screams as shrill as crumbling foundations
and crashing mountains
a begging dirge
body a useless paradigm
before and after
black and white
alluring and repulsive
desired and rebuked
given and taken
from there
the lowest ground
the crows cast off
ascending the heavens
garnering the cries of the innocent
sullen air filled with a sallow tint of pain