tyrants

survivor

tear the flesh off your arm and spit it out
i am less woman than animal
more teeth than gums
my skin is slippery like a fish,
but my steel scales shine twice as bright,
glint of my backbone,
my bones are spears, ribs
arrows,
my eyes are swollen against the dark, my mouth
suckled at the breast of my fear,
i grow through it, from it, in spite of it,
i learn, then
I thrive