she burned so bright the world collapsed,
or rather, the girl did
shedding the skin of shame
paring away the fuck-ups and fumbles,
the tickle of an apology as it climbs up her throat,
the subtle press of the punisher’s reminder that
who she ought to be does not stumble into
her becoming but marches into arms that
will hold her when she falls
it is inevitable, they warn
their ghosts lace themselves through
her trembling fingers that strip
her body of the linens marked
by centuries of lives that aren’t hers
she peels them off like old wallpaper
until her body is bare and cracked
and all her own
she plants her feet into the earth
baring her Self to the full moon’s embrace
its hands stretch out
to wrap the girl in light
she closes her eyes, watching waves of rose
dance across the emptiness
she floats on nothing
but the steady whisper of moonlight
it is inevitable, she warns
as the world collapses around her,
and her feet learn to wander the wild
hills once again
