Girlhood
Updated: Dec 31, 2020

When the sidewalk reeks of lost
in the woods, pray we're anything but
girls. On the safe path, with hoods over
our heads, howls can still fit themselves
into whistling. Watch the way
the wolves consume: like a breath,
inside-out, souring the maw of night—
In the dark, we'll forget to spit out
the liquid curses. Our fortunes here
lie not in being kissed awake, but
being untouched asleep; lay us down
gently, hang a wreath in case—
Watch the way we've learned to fold
the hands of our grief back in their laps.
'Cause even then, we'll just disappear,
we'll just turn into sea foam—but someday,
let us be girls, opening our bodies
like lilies to the sky, girls laying down
the loud pavement beneath our feet.
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