an experiment in gravity

a small woman like me

is a ghost who circumambulates

streets and hallways with audacity

a small woman like me is a portrait too far

a small woman like me

is an experiment in gravity

a small woman like me

remembers everything

a small woman like me

is never seen

a small woman like me

doesn't fear the dead

a small woman like me

serves insolence with impunity

a small woman like me

knows what is real

a small woman like me eats her grief,

slides down into holes easily

a small woman like me walks among thieves,

recedes into the dim cell of her ragged heart

a small woman like me is irrelevant,

swallows her own history

a small woman like me

is dark and lonely in the huge night

a small woman like me

is not easily understood

a small woman like me

is nobody special

a small woman like me is not blind

a small woman like me

dances naked in the rain

a small woman like me

doesn't care what they think

a small woman like me

pulls her voice up from the deep recesses of her throat

a small woman like me

has seen them slaughter her kind.

Paulette C Turcotte 2023