Becoming

Do you ever just close
Your eyes
Rest your head upon your fingertips

And fall into the deep red
Spots that dance and grow
In the out back black behind your melting mind

And fall into the deadest
places that fill the featureless pit
That once wore dresses
And danced with
Your soul?

Can you breathe there?
Do you choke
On the smoke of burning bridges
And charcoaled chunks of
Old loves clothed in dying dreams?

I am Queen there.

I descended several years ago
Face down fallen
Directly in the dirt
And crawled on bloody knees
Fumbling along trying to find
My way

Handholds crumbled, passages blocked,
Raging rivers crossed till I found my way
Back to the beginning
3 times around, now. And NOW

Now I know the taste of dirt
I grind the grit between my teeth
I am shrouded, now, half
Naked in a blood red gown so deep
It is black
If you squint
My hair is unwashed and wild and
I wear a skull necklace strung on
Ligament line wire
Dripping dried blood upon
My decolletage

I am a fearsome sight
Inside this sacred space.
Bare feet and broken nails

If you need protection
You may hide beneath my jagged hem.

If you come to steal
Or lie, to stab or even
To offer only half of what you are
Beware:
I carry a poisoned sword sharpened
Upon the curve atop my
Broken heart
And
I
Bite