a thousand crickets
singing down the night
a song of summer coming
warm wind on its way
but for this April dusk
wrapped in blankets
huddled round the fire
dreaming of an August moon
rising through the tree line
shimmering on the bay
…and when you tell my story-
the one where you cast me as the villain-
do you leave out the parts that don’t fit your script?
do you tell them of love and laughing
do you say how large a piece of heart we shared?
do you mention midnight phone calls
and the shoulder that was yours for the asking?
or will that ruin your play-
if they know you loved me as fiercely as I loved you?
you wanted to write a thriller
but wrote a tragedy instead
do they know?
Overnight,
or was it a decade, I’m not sure
I woke to find this woman in my mirror
it took a moment to find my eyes in hers-
to find the little divot in the front tooth
where Duffy bumped my elbow hard
while I drank a bottle of coke in ’67
a glacial shapeshifting scene unfolds
foreshadowing who is to come
my fine, firm ass has given way
to a tight and toned vocabulary
rising, where my breasts once were
is a warrior who has survived
the breaking of her heart
cancer and the thousand cuts from former family
who worked hard to slice me into small pieces
they could wrap in paper napkins
and sneak into the trash-
being inedible bites to their delicate palettes-
a head of unruly root beer and whiskey hair
has become a thinner landscape
and emerging crown of silver
I don’t know this new woman
yet
or all she is capable of doing
but
I have a feeling
we’re gonna to get along
just fine
Word Ninja Girl 