she goes bump in the night -
dawn crawls closer and she shifts restlessly.
thud. thud. thud.

she is your heart, embracing rebirth.

she is claustrophobic, tired
of this cramped pit.
she aches for your sunlight. aches for your ocean.

she is the loose change that clinks in
your pocket she is the hair tie wrapped around
your wrist she is the goddess you pray to in
winter.

she stumbles through hibernation,
her silhouette presses the
filmy chrysalis, a sticky
kiss.

may she unfurl her wings, blow the shackles to
dust. open your ribcage, she reveals herself


Resplendent.

The ringed nostril
- crimson -
shiver and drop, exhale.

Stained sink,
scarlet stream
snakes pipes.

I'm in the armpit,
the buttcrack of the Earth -
burrowing deeper during my winter months.

I echo in every child's cry.
I shudder in every pervert's glance.

Run ragged, ragged girl,
in every slap of boots on pavement,
every whiff of dying chrysanthemum.

I am the fists beating me to a pulp,
embracing every blow.

A corpse inside and out,
the glass fogs thick,
concave, ready to crack.
My neck keens and twists, but still -
there you are.

I eat my screams to nothing,
teeth marks embedded in my desire.
Permanence beckons,
tells me I can sleep if I wish, but still -
there you are.

Past skin, past bone - there's
my heart.
Your ringleader and your acrobat.

Still it doesn't know.
Still I wish it did.