Chin Up Claws Out
Locations
i am tired of a world where
women apologize for the area
they occupy,
and think their most valuable possession
is the negative space
within hollowed cheeks,
underneath full breasts,
between bowed thighs.
i see too many girls who sip hallelujah
cupped in their hands
and sing forgiveness with sighs
that fall from lips like
crushed petals.
i need girls with wilderness written
in their starry eyes
and in the way their hair curls back
like a wolf's ear
pricked in vigilance.
women who scream, cry,
are not afraid to be loud,
demand to be heard,
to be noticed,
to be here and now.
gardens bloom within them,
blood red roses erupt from inside,
covered in thorns so no man
may touch them again
and from them no more petals
will fall.