---
"no!"
she claws skyward through my gut
rip in the stomach
wound beneath the chest
scratch in my throat, make me cry blood.
her upward retribution
is searching for the shaft of light
the one that breaks up any
gathering of tiny conspiring demons
when a mouth opens to speak.
they flee, she flies.
like war, she arrives
covered in filth, disappointed in her maker but
alive.
licking whatever parts of her that continue to drip
wondering at shocked faces who might be
learning in the moment
that a woman can be deity for a two-letter word.
---