by Shannon Cates
every body
hoping to be broken
has painted its own
veneer of delicacy
the deceptive nature of
polyester, nylon, silk
the flesh is malleable
chiffon
easy to ruin or crumple
but here
imposed upon by
alien croquis
i’ve read the room
and found my body’s
language colonized
found paper skin and foreign bones
beneath crepe and feminine essence
found numbers on my skin–
a man given freedom will
create a cage
i’ve seen the creases
up close
like a naked heart
on a trellis, bound by string
you say ruinous things
can be beautiful
untie pieces of me
until i can see inside
the soft criminal in bloom
Shannon Cates, a UX designer living in Annapolis, Maryland, finds comfort in rainy days and the written word. When not crafting digital experiences, she’s immersed in poetry, often with her cat by her side. Her work has been published in Humana Obscura, Flora Fiction, and Outlander among other journals.
Emerge Literary Journal 