wildcat

here in the forest, there is a-waiting
a little bird, quiet and sweet
she does not quite understand
how they could have born her

these foreign beasts

meet me in the dream where the windows open onto bird flight

          with sparrows flitting shadows across the room,

I believe that femininity is power. I was born a girl, and even though I know now that I am more fluid than the word “girl” can contain, I am still feminine. I am feminine because I choose to be.

and i remember i was really proud of it.
hung it up on my wall and everything when it made the newspaper.
a year ago today, i took the grey-brown frown of november
and molded it into metaphors with my own two hands. looking

Our hearts are a phoenix.

When they burn, they will return from the coals.

So when you're flaming, remember your hope

And when you're ashes, remember your wings.

We talk as the twilight turns to dark ash, 

sit out on the porch and catch fireflies in mason jars--

only for a second, then let them fly.

You tell me about friends I barely know, and I nod and smile at you,