my demon woke me last night
to talk about The Dubliners.
her voice is Marylin Monroe breathy -
except for the occasional squeak -
but this sound is the accumulation
of all the midwives smothering infants
for the crime of being born girls
at that moment.
"so," she says
"I'm just all ambivalent about this epiphany thing"
and she has perfect teeth inside a kewpie-doll mouth.
this is a mouth that does not stretch like a snake.
she takes small bites, a knuckle or toe at a time.
cracking now a child's femur
and up-ending it like a pixie stick
to suck the marrow
she waits for my reply.
she has hair which is the color of fire and blood
and is also blood
and is also fire.
she is covered in black feathers -
a woman-bird,
though sometimes the dark edges blur
and she wears a preacher's robes.
her tail is a stub, like a docked boxer
or an above the elbow amputation.
she has spoken of the unfairness of life -
all the popular demons have long, spiked tails -
some even have poison stingers.
this so I don't become too self-pitying and self-righteous.
"The exquisite moment
when self-deception is ripped away
and the soul's arrogance laid naked -
you just can't have too few of those.
But all this implied change afterwards -
that's so disappointing.
What's a girl to do?"
to talk about The Dubliners.
her voice is Marylin Monroe breathy -
except for the occasional squeak -
but this sound is the accumulation
of all the midwives smothering infants
for the crime of being born girls
at that moment.
"so," she says
"I'm just all ambivalent about this epiphany thing"
and she has perfect teeth inside a kewpie-doll mouth.
this is a mouth that does not stretch like a snake.
she takes small bites, a knuckle or toe at a time.
cracking now a child's femur
and up-ending it like a pixie stick
to suck the marrow
she waits for my reply.
she has hair which is the color of fire and blood
and is also blood
and is also fire.
she is covered in black feathers -
a woman-bird,
though sometimes the dark edges blur
and she wears a preacher's robes.
her tail is a stub, like a docked boxer
or an above the elbow amputation.
she has spoken of the unfairness of life -
all the popular demons have long, spiked tails -
some even have poison stingers.
this so I don't become too self-pitying and self-righteous.
"The exquisite moment
when self-deception is ripped away
and the soul's arrogance laid naked -
you just can't have too few of those.
But all this implied change afterwards -
that's so disappointing.
What's a girl to do?"
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