no one dare invent words that pick and **** and litter our ears with shards of doubt, dismissive declarations.
the victorious are those who cover their ears and screen their eyes from someone else's misery: bruised knuckles and a wall that wouldn't budge.
but all I see is a woman crumpled on the floor, her pride posed like a crow on a branch in the open window frame, mocking her failing strength and shattered resolve; someone's fist tingles with accomplishment for putting that Thing in her place, close to her true place, on the shelf she dusts and polishes fastidiously, lest he call her out on her "half-assed attempt,"
no one dare invent words
that limit little girls to the plastic boxes for their plastic dolls with plastic smiles.
when the seed grows buds, that become flourishing leaves on a solid stem, reaching up, up, up can they see me yet?* but all they want is the fruit.