A Dangerous Woman
Poetry
Digging deep into the barrel
Slimy scales ooze white like the milk of a broken stem
Flopping and glistening —
scooping me out like seeds in a melon baller
With your callous words.
Your barbed fingers scratching down the back of my ego.
I’m raw.
Stripped of convenience
Stripped of care
No longer pretending or placating for the sake of you
I should have left you long before
I did
You were no good to me and I no good to myself because of you
I lived in the recesses of one or two good memories we shared
Glimpses of what could have been
If only —
You hadn’t been the way you are.
People never really change
We only evolve into what we always were
And you were never any good
You’re a mixed tape of all your favorite songs
Given to me in a box of my own stuff —
No —
your stuff.
It was always about you.
I peeked and peered and held my breath
hoping
you’d figure it out —
But you never did.
I picked up the pieces of my shattered self
Released my shadow and sent him on his merry way —
Govinda by the river.
And now I
Become —
Radiant and jeweled
Glistening and gold —
Wild and
Dangerous
Woman.
