right hand pointing

Reduction

Subservient & impressionable,

the work evaluation reads. A

stiletto between the ribs, a

clenching of my jaw. My spine

locks, steel traversing each

plate. This is what a stranger tells

me: that my wings are bent

and clipped, voiceless heart

wrung tight for the slaughter.

 

This is what I know: that

it took me half a decade to

realize the power of my lungs,

the curve of my words, a lark

leaping from the precipice

and flying instead of falling.