#new poetry

ABook of Poems & Other Desires by Keagan J. Larson

thegreenkindofgoddess:

“can you feel the earth the rumble in your chest behind your heart but deeper so much deeper. can you hear the breathe of the sky the cold whisper of wind in the clouds in your lungs feel the heartbeat of the mountains of the olde in the back of your mind the pulse of the forests in your blood, the call of green of sky and sea and land you are the child of the earth of the sun through the trees and the sweet summer breezes the flow of the creek the chatter of the world beyond”

— originalgoddess

not like other girls

was a title i coveted

but never earned.

i wrote off makeup,

i stopped talking about fairies and mermaids

to research superheroes.

i quit ballet in favor of taekwondo

but even in a plain white dobok and a brown tti,

dripping sweat and exhaustion

i was not enough.

i was vengeful in my frustration

notorious for the blood on my gloves—

we weren’t supposed to aim for the nose

but i was smaller and younger

and a good actress.

deep down i think i knew

i would never be like the girls

who weren’t like other girls,

and that made me wonder

what about other girls was so bad,

and why there were no boys

who weren’t like other boys.

i expected other girls to be what i’d seen on tv

and read in books,

but instead i was met with compliments,

kind eyes and genuine voices,

proclaiming boys were to be seen and not heard.

i learned that i was pretty

and i looked cute in pink

and the school confiscates pocketknives

but keys fit between your fingers.

i fell in love with other girls

when they took his sneer as a declaration of war,

unleashed their tongues like rabid dogs

in defense of girls they’d never spoken to

and flashed sharp grins

when their words bit hard enough

to reward them with tears.

i watched in awe

as other girls filed their nails into claws,

drove needles through their ears and noses

and lined their eyes with intimidation.

the judgement of their fathers

weighed down their bare shoulders

and adorned their short skirts

but every time he voiced it

their scissors took another inch off the bottom.

they were feral, and territorial,

they were disobedient and wanted blood,

they dressed how they wanted

and if you looked and didn’t like it

that was your problem.

i failed at not like other girls

because i met other girls

and i remembered my breath was fire

and my teeth dripped venom,

my hair was a nest of snakes

and my gaze was stone;

they knew i was a gorgon

years before i did

and now i’ve finally

become one.

cast your eyes upon me

and fall into devotion,

revel in the masterpiece that is my being

and wait helplessly

as addiction crawls up your limbs,

long for me,

touch me

and find that my skin

was carved from marble,

wonder

in your love-drunk adoration

which sculptor could have hewn

something so masterful

stand before me

and discover why

my gaze entrances the sun

and my voice bewitches the moon,

perceive me

and empathize

with the planets

as they compete to capture my interest

and the northern lights

as they pray for my attention

brush your hands along my thighs

and know

that my flesh is coiled lightning

and my bones contain the east wind,

grasp my hands

and bear witness

to the vast expanse of past and future

written in the swirls of my fingerprints

and the lines of my palms,

press your ear to my chest

and behold thunder.

caress the folds of my stomach

and know that i am made of mountains

that my muscles were knitted

from the same roots

that strangle boulders

and win,

learn the map of my veins

and be warned;

inside them surges saltwater

stolen from the deepest trenches of the sea

i cry seafoam

and spit the blood of men

who wronged me.

the universe is an artist

that makes itself in my image

every new nebula another attempt

at painting the wildfire that rages within me

and when my body does decay

all creation will rot

beside me.