They tell us all to climb the tree,
To reach what hangs for all to see.
But though we stretch and though we try,
The fruit remains too far, too high.

A fox will feast, a lion dine,
While sparrows peck at crumbs and pine.
The branches bend for weight and pride,
But never lean to those outside.

We’re told, “Grow strong, and you may rise—
The climb is fair, the prize the prize.”
Yet roo...

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I'm a woman

But not the palatable kind

Men see me

They want a taste but often can't stomach it

I writhe and thrash around

Until they have to spit me out

But women always see me

The whole of me

The pit of me

Every last bit of me

They don't complain that I'm too dark

To shine their torches through me

And make me bright 

I never bend to their will

But I ...

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Yesterday, I cracked the whip
Over a poor man’s flesh
At his request
Yesterday, I dug my heels
Into the crotch of him
Because he asked
It hurt me to hurt him
But it would hurt him too
Had I refused
The thing about me
Is that I'm not
- Me, I mean -
I'm a chameleon,
Master of masks
Slipping on disguises
Like slipping on shirts
I am metamorphosis
Shapeshifter, am I
With wolf or doe ...

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