“When they came,
the mountains shuddered.
The rivers emptied themselves
of bones.
Undressed until they were
naked and still.
When they came,
they called you unholy.
Blamed you for the sin weighing
down their hands.
The wind drowned the ocean
in screams of sisters gone mad
with envy of their brothers’
thunder feet. Their nightime free.
Their unapologetic loud.
When they came,
you tried your best to un-become.
To not be what your mother
warned you against.
To un-miracle.
Un-magic.
It never worked.
They loved your girl heart.
How it always ended up in someone else’s fist.”
-Y.Z