NaPoWriMo 2023 — Day 14: “Cami”

14. Cami

she forever feared
what she would become
after the shedding
of the old skin,
serpentine suggestions
slithered in, threatened
steadiness, shook
the world, shone light
on the blurred edges,
crisper, clearer,
senses sharpened,
blood loudly flowed,
and the pulse, oh,
the pulse drummed
her awake

she never knew
how deeply she
allowed herself
to remain asleep,
blinded by the need
for concrete
through the complexities,
in the city that carved
her name from old
bones and crumbling
tombstones, she rose up
from the rubble,
reclaimed an ancient stake,
ripped it from the heart
of the most unconventional
love, liked the new gleam
in her tired eyes so much
that she avoided mirrors
lest she fall beneath
her own compulsion

she’ll forever defend
the decision, how she
succumbed to the forced
feeding, how she chose
this dark life eventually,
how it suits her, how it
unleashed an inner confidence,
possessed her, saved her

she will plead with both
her maker and the undertaker
to see beyond the body, past
the absence of a soul, to peer
into this unearthed essence
and accept the broken shadow
now made bright and whole

Photo by Lisa Fotios