i used to think
i was broken

because
i never once

spent my
daydreams

plucking
swollen pomegranates

from
someone else's tree.

- then i learned that society is broken, not me.

i'm sorry
if i
wasn't
the daughter
you had
in mind
-i only ever wanted to make you proud-

I had heard that Riverside actually has a high crime rate and a lot of theft, but I wasn't aware that you know, there'd be a stabbing at my back door,

it took
losing him
to finally
find
myself.

It took
losing him
a second time
to be sure
of myself.

that
was my
first act
of
self-love.

i
let myself
know
that my life
doesn't
have to be over
just because
theirs are
& i went
ahead
& painted
the sun
back into
my sky.
I am allowed to live my life.

over the decades
her books became
such a part
of her

that
the ink
somehow escaped
her veins & bloomed
her favorite
words & images
onto her skin.

now
the world
would have
no doubt:

she
was the
pagebound
girl- page to skin