Balm

For a minute there
I lost my power
Floored that he
Could slurp the marrow
From my bones
Then vanish.

I let my tears fall like antelope
Slumbered for 100 days
Searched in cards and constellations
Let my weeping belly starve.

Then I
Rose up in my nightgown
Soaked my wounds in snow-fed streams
And I suckled from the she-wolves
‘Til I spat out shards of glass.

I pondered donning scales
A coat of daggers, cotton wool
But my lunar flesh hummed bright enough
To turn my ghosts
To dust.

Buds sprouted from
My uncurled fists.
Crushed flowers bear the sweetest scent!
I filled my lungs and tossed one
At the foot of he
Who thieved.

“I can grow a whole garden.
Take this in amnesty, for
When you catch sight
Of your reflection
You’ll need it more than me.”

Cover by Grace Madeline