After years of searching,
From the Scottish Highlands to the deepest jungles of Guyana,
You’ve found the unicorn in your very own backyard
She stands with long blonde hair shimmering in the late afternoon sun
You stare in astonishment
“Where have you been all my life?”
And to your surprise,
She speaks
“Pretty day, isn’t it?”
Her eyes are deep and soulful
Wide and fixed on the slowly setting sun
If you look closely you can almost see her retinas burning
But if she’s in pain, she doesn’t show it
A gentle smile graces her soft face and her slender arms are folded behind her back
This woman, everything a unicorn should be
And then some
So why,
You wonder,
Has she hidden herself this long?
Why would she allow no other to bask in her stunning beauty before you?
“No other?”
She scoffs
“Many men have “basked in my beauty” before
Though they didn’t consider themselves men before a beautiful woman
Stallions before a unicorn
They considered themselves conquerors before an island”
She extends an arm
“Do you see these?”
Dozens of golden bands chew lazily on their own tails and constrict her wrist all the way
up to her elbow
“Every man who has ever shackled me,
Told me who to be
And how
And why
Now rests as metal on my flesh.”
There are more bracelets on the other arm.
“Every man who has ever cut a piece of me”
She lifts the side of her shirt to reveal sutures wiring the remains of her stomach shut
“Now must keep it
And endure the rotting stench of what once was my heart.”
You are unwavering.
“These are the words they have spoken, marked neatly on my skin. Every time they call
me slut, whore, bitch, I draw another line.”
She rolls up her jeans to reveal legs blackened with ink.
You are unwavering.
“I will not always be your friend,”
She says.
“There will be women too.
They will wish to slash and stab and bleed you dry for the injustice they see in your
soul.”
You are unwavering.
“The world does not want you.”
It will cast every stone, brick, and bill at you to keep you out
To keep you down.”
You are unwavering.
She turns her gaze away from the bruised orange sky to face you.
“All that, and more,”
Her milky eyes well up with tears.
“And you still want this?”
You are unwavering.
She sighs.
“Then go forth. Wake and face it all another day. You are fierce, you are strong, you are
a woman
And you always have been.
POETRY FESTIVAL. Submit to site for FREE. Submit for actor performance. Submit poem to be made into film. 