Sometimes a fierce lady rises From below, always below
Wet with the stink of seaweed or the iron smell of groin blood
She is not house-broken
She is not broken-in
She has not yet been broken
Untamed she might be called
Hands in her food, grease on her face
Her face always stuck in engines and places that make things go
When she darkens your doorstep
You will try fast to change the bulb
Flip the switch
Shine some light
Your finger will point, she will take a good bite off the tip
Your secrets will swell around her like a rainstorm
You will blame her the flood
As your house and car and spouse that you never really loved
Get washed away
But you like your dirt, it makes you feel real
Important
Real important
Sometimes a fierce lady rises
Inconvenient for our time, all things hidden
Falling from her brocade bag,
Like a vomit spewed of what we tried to keep down
Vaginas fall out
Rage falls out
Nobility falls out
The cat is out of the bag, and it circles your leg for a good scratch on the ass
A nice pat on the head
You look around like a nervous squirrel or a man with his mistress when his wife walks in
In other words, you are not happy, you are not calm
The fierce lady sits and offers you a stogie or a good stiff drink
She reaches between your legs and gives you a good strong tug
You’re offended
But you’re always offended
You want to walk away
But you always walk away
You put your weapons down on the table
Your rights, your blathering mind, your finger that points, your palm that pushes down
You put your weapons down on the table
And sit down on the curb beside her
Not too close because there is a stench
Like afterbirth or placenta
She scooches closer
She sidles up
You hide your discomfort
You admit it, there it is
I’ve never really loved
You
I just threw the bad out the window
And hoped to make it through
She grabs your elbow
She helps you, like a tottering fawn
Like a wobbly old lady
To stand, to rise
Sometimes a fierce lady rises
And we remember who we are