Wetted cheeks chafe her skin,
tears pull agony breathless from her chest
the salty taste of the
ocean in her heart
reddened bruised blushes
upon her arched bones
the tang that
tastes so
delectable

but at what cost

the trade of her heart,
as it pounds
like many drums
in her
open cavities
the curled
elf ears
that quiver with her
unused shaky
smiles
the quiet
tremble
of her lips
and eyes that shine
with that wetness
as she

as she

she does not cry,
she is warrior
she is princess
she is
steel bars
bent and curled
malliable
around her
crescent arms
that hold her together
she is
whole
holy
she is
moonlight upon
the
antidote of
her sickness
the shedding of
skin
the snake's bark
and the
brown mercury
of that
sweet
and
tangy

tear

that
she is torn
she tears
it
breaks
under her
calloused
fingers
nails pry
at the
secrets
written on the
undersides
of her limbs

it is not skin
it is not pain
it is not hers

it is not tears
that she
wrenches
from her
breathless
chest

she is

not

teary.